Live Until Tomorrow
by Vietta
Summary: Reno & Rude's stories, starting from their time in the slums. Lemons. Yaoi. Angst.
1. Chapter 1

Reno sat and stared at the door. His mom had never been gone this long before and he was worried something bad had happened. Something bad always happened in the slums, especially to people who didn't deserve it. He knew this from personal experience. His baby sister had died when he was about three because some sick twisted bastard had attacked his mom and thrown the baby into a wall in the process. It didn't matter how good a person you were, in the slums there was always someone who would pull you under.

He sniffled slightly, in his fear he had started to cry. He always worried that his mom would never come home or that when she did she would be so battered and bruised she wouldn't be able to move. It had happened before and had scared Reno so bad that he had stayed in the loft they shared for a week. Right now though he felt like going out and looking for his mom, but she had forbid him leaving the loft at night a long time ago.

So for now, he simply sat and stared at the door as if it was the piece of wood's fault that his mom hadn't been home in three days. Every now and again he could hear drunken voices carrying through he window behind him. He tried to focus on what the men were saying, hoping, and hating himself for hoping, that one of them would suddenly catcall at his mom. He was used to the fact that she sold her body every night. He hated the fact that she had to do that so they could survive but it put food on the table and gil in the jar. He knew his mom had been saving gil for them to leave the slums for years now but he knew it would never happen. Every time it looked like the jar was a little fuller they needed to buy something. Food, clothes, medicine; the expenses necessary to live even a halfway normal life added up to an amount that kept them just scraping by.

Reno fell asleep watching the door just like he had the past two nights and many other nights before those. Sometimes the door was like a monster, haunting Reno's dreams and plaguing his thoughts. Other times the door was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen as it opened to give his mom back.

He woke up the next morning to find that the door had remained a monster and he fumed silently as he got ready for the day. He still held out hope that his mom would come back before he had to leave and he waited till the very last second to leave for work to see if his vigilant watch would pay off. It didn't.

He worked for an old man in sector five delivering things and collecting money for them. The man would go to Wall Market and buy things then sell the cheap to people who couldn't afford full price. Reno didn't know how the man managed to do that and still make money though, to him it seemed like the man should have gone broke years ago but somehow the old man had managed to no only survive, but thrive. Reno didn't question how the old man got by so long as he got paid for his work. He didn't get paid a lot but he got paid enough that he could at least contribute something to the jar and really that was all that mattered to him because even though he knew the jar would never be full, he still wanted to try.

The old man, for he didn't actually have a name to Reno, barked at him for being late. After Reno completed a few deliveries though the old man softened enough that at lunchtime they were able to chat idly away. Neither of them actually ate during lunch, Reno usually didn't want to or couldn't afford to and the old man simply didn't eat and Reno didn't care about his reasons.

"Your mom come home yet boy?" The old man was checking over his merchandise as Reno dusted the shelves in the shabby little shop.

"No." Reno tried to sound as nonchalant about it as possible.

"Hmm. How long she been gone now?"

"Three days." Reno was still trying to hold that calm tone in his voice.

"What are you gonna do if she don't come back?"

"Whatever the hell I want to!" Reno didn't like people inquiring into his life.

"Hmph, suit yourself. Ya got more balls about it than I did at your age. I woulda cried like a fuckin' baby." Reno couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing to the man but he didn't really care either.

"Good thing I'm not you then isn't it?" The old man laughed.

When Reno got home his mom still wasn't home. He had stopped at the store on his way home and bought bread and peanut butter so that he could have something in his stomach that night. He had used his own money so he knew his mom wouldn't mind to much. They needed the food anyways.

He ate his sandwich in silence in his spot facing the door as the bar next door produced a cacophony of noise. He liked the noise, well, what he could discern as music from the noise was enjoyable, but the sheer fact that there was background noise made him feel better. He was seconds from dozing off in front of the door when he heard someone knock on it. No one ever knocked in the slums, they either pounded and yelled or tried to break the door down. Reno stood up and walked to the door with no intentions of opening it.

"Who are ya and whaddaya want?" Reno yelled towards the source of the knocking.

"I need to have a word Reno." The voice was male.

"How the hell do you know my name bastard?" Reno was scared now though he tried not to let it show in his voice.

"Please open the door Reno. I promise I won't hurt you." Probably an empty promise.

"I don't trust ya!" Reno ran to the kitchen and grabbed a bread knife in case the man tried to force his way inside.

"I don't blame you son but I need to have a word. It's about your mother."

Reno's heart went cold. "My mom?"

"Yes." Reno gripped the knife tightly and opened the door, pointing the knife at the man that towered above him. Reno was tall for his age but he was still just a kid. No match for a man this size in any way.

"What about my mom?" Reno could tell this man wasn't from around here, if the fact that he was polite enough to knock and wait for an invitation before entering weren't enough of a clue the way he dressed sure as hell was. The man was wearing a blue suit and tie, a tie was something Reno hadn't seen in a long time. He looked at it quizzically and decided he didn't like it, it looked like a noose.

"I'm afraid I have bad news about her. I'm from the Shinra company and your mother passed while doing some undercover work for us." Shinra, that explained a lot.

Reno felt the cold hard lump in his heart spread to his limbs, "What the hell do ya mean she 'passed'?"

"She died son. You have my sincerest apologies." Reno highly doubted the mans sincerity.

"She didn't have nothin' to do with Shinra though! My mom didn't work for Shinra..." Now that he thought about it he didn't have any idea who his mom worked for at all, if she even worked for anyone.

"Her employment with us was a recent affair and we instructed her not to tell anyone about it. She was gathering information for us when it happened." The man knelt down and grasped Reno's shoulder in what Reno's supposed the man considered a compassionate gesture. "She told us about you though, she said that if anything happened to her she wanted you to be taken care of. The only way we can fulfill her wish for you is to train you to work for us. I've come to offer you a way out of here, you can get out of the slums and live above the plate while you train to be a Turk or a Soldier for Shinra. What do you think about that idea Reno?"

Reno was on high alert now. If he knew anything about Shinra is was that you didn't get mixed up with the company unless you were desperate and that once you were part of the company you were stuck there for life. He didn't know anything about Turk's or Soldiers but he sure as hell knew his mom wouldn't want him to become anything for Shinra. There were rumors they had heard about how Shinra would kill people for profit and that they were even killing the planet to line their pockets with gil. He didn't want any part of it but he knew that this man wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I dunno man. Can I....Can I at least have a few days to think about it? To maybe say goodbye to people?" Reno hoped the man would say yes and give Reno the time he needed to come up with a plan.

"Of course you can. I hope you realize the benefits of what I'm offering you though. Most people would kill to get into Shinra this easily." Reno thought most people would kill to get out of Shinra too.

"I'll sleep on it. For now though....I......I need to do something for my mom. To cry for her and stuff ya know?" Reno emphasized his last sentence by starting to tear up. He could cry on command and the ability had served him well in the past and he hoped it would help him now.

"I understand Reno. I understand this is a hard time for you to make such an important decision. I'll come back in a few days to see what you're going to do alright?" The man ruffled Reno's hair and stood up and left Reno crying in the doorway. He shut the door and broke down for real. There was no need to pretend tears for his mother, they flowed down his face without any effort.


	2. Chapter 2

Reno set out to leave the loft he had shared with his mother the very next day. He began by selling a lot of the things he wouldn't need or couldn't carry with him. It took a few days and didn't get a lot of gil for what he had but he was in no position to push for more. What he couldn't sell he would simply leave behind. He wasn't really attached to the objects in the place, most of them had been there when they moved in. In the slums people rarely sold their homes and if they wanted to leave they simply did just that. Packed up and left their homes abandoned and unlocked for squatters like Reno and his mom and the hundreds of other people in need of shelter. If someone wanted to have a home in the slums they wouldn't have the gil to actually buy one so selling property was a fruitless endeavor.

Reno took the small amount of gil that he and his mother had saved in the jar and put it into his pocket. The only thing he to do now was find a place to lie low for a few days while the man from Shinra searched for him. He thought about just going to another abandoned home and living by himself but he dismissed the idea quickly. If he took another loft or apartment somewhere it was very likely that someone would notice and since Reno stuck out like a sore thumb with his bright red hair it wouldn't take long for Shinra to figure out where he was. The next thing he could think of was that maybe he could stay with the old man.

He left the loft taking a small backpack filled with what was left of his possessions and walked to the shop. Once he reached the door he knew something was wrong. No one was inside buying anything and the place was quiet to a degree almost never heard in the slums. He pushed the door open and found the old man sprawled on the floor and coated in blood. Reno didn't have to think hard to figure out who had killed him. He was sad that the old man had died though, despite the attitude he usually showed him he had actually liked him. Reno knew there was nothing he could do and went back to the loft. He would have to run and hide somewhere where no one would notice him. He knew sector seven had a lot of orphans running around, but he didn't know if he could make it all the way to sector seven with Shinra chasing him. He couldn't leave during the day when everyone around was probably put on the lookout for him but he knew the man would come back that night and he had to have a plan when he did. He racked his brains for an hour but he couldn't come up with any alternative plans.

He spent the rest of the evening looking at a map he had found in the trash and outlining and memorizing the various ways he could get to sector seven. When he had the maps details firmly secured in his brain he packed up his things and waited in his usual spot on the floor for the man to come and try to get him with a knife in his hand.

He was almost asleep when he heard the soft knock on the door. He sat up as fast as he could and yelled, "Whaddaya want?"

"It's me Reno. Please open the door." Reno hated the way the mans voice sounded like he was trying to console a wild animal. It plain pissed him off.

"Keep your pants on I'm comin'." Reno hid the knife in his pocket and opened the door.

"Good evening Reno. I see you're packed, does this mean you've accepted my offer?" The mans eyes had a glimmer of self-assuredness that made Reno even angrier. It was almost like the man didn't expect Reno to refuse. Boy was he going to be surprised.

"Nope. Sorry to disappoint but I ain't goin' to Shinra. I'm not gonna be a murderer like your lackeys. I'm not stupid yo, I know it was you that killed that old guy and you probably killed my mom too." Reno put his hand in his pocket and gripped the knife tightly.

The man stepped back a bit, shocked at Reno's refusal and accusation. "We didn't kill your mother Reno. As for the old man, he's been stealing from us for quite a while now, it's how he was able to sell things so cheaply here. We don't tolerate thievery. I am sorry you don't want to be a part of Shinra, but I'm afraid I have orders to take you with me, willing or not. I wish you had been willing Reno. You would have made things easier on everyone." The man cracked his knuckles as he spoke and Reno pulled the knife from his pocket.

"Touch me and I'll cut you a new hole to breathe from!" Reno's words held more confidence than he felt.

The man sighed. "Reno, I have several others positioned around this building. They all know what you look like, they all know what to do if they see you and you won't like what their orders are."

"I don't give a damn about your orders!" Reno lunged forward and stabbed the mans hand before opening the window and jumping out.

He landed in a pile of rubbish that he had carefully placed under the window to cushion his fall. He rolled to his feet and began running one of the routes he had planned for his escape. He heard a gunshot behind him and he threw his arms over his head and ran faster. He had known they would probably try to shoot him but he was still scared out of his mind. He had held out some hope that since he was only a kid they might take less aggressive measures to catch him but had known that it wasn't likely.

More shots fired over his head and Reno turned a corner as he saw two small darts embed into the brick wall in front of him. He ran into another man holding a dart gun and he shoved him over as hard as he could. He almost fell himself as he leapt out of the mans reach and tried to dodge more shots from behind him. He hurdled over piles of trash and knocked over as many cans of the stuff as he could. Then, as he turned a corner one of the darts finally hit him. It burned where it had struck his elbow and Reno ripped it out quickly to try and keep whatever fluid the darts were filled with out of his body.

He was able to stay ahead of the gunmen for quite a while. He made it out of sector five and was partway through sector six when another dart hit him in the side. He ripped this one out as well but no sooner had he removed the second one he was hit by a third and then a fourth. He stumbled slightly as the drugs started to take effect and he looked around for somewhere to hide as he ran. He finally found a small house and he ripped the door open and threw himself inside before slamming it shut, alarming the two people inside.

"Please, help!" He panted as he slumped to the ground.

He could hear a woman's panic-stricken voice and he felt someone grab him around the middle and drag him from in front of the door. He hoped that they weren't going to just throw him back outside and was relieved when he heard a voice say, "Hide him where we usually stick the runners." He didn't know why the people had a 'usual spot' to stick people but he guessed that he was not the first person to come charging into their house. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was someone hauling him into a room and a voice saying, "You're freakin' heavy man!"

When he woke up he was propped against the wall of a small room. There was another person with him but it was dark enough that Reno couldn't make out anything detailed.

"You're lucky my mom's nice." The other boy, Reno could tell by the voice that it was a boy, sounded scornful.

"Yeah I guess I am yo. Thanks for helpin' me out." Reno's head swam. Whatever had been in those darts didn't want to leave his system just yet.

"You're welcome. Got a name?" As Reno's eyes adjusted to the darkness he could see that the boy was holding a knife much like Reno's as he crouched by the door.

"Reno, you?" Reno worked to get his head clear.

"Rude." Rude pressed his ear to the door. "I think they might be about done searching for you."

"I hope so. I don't want to go with those Shinra bastards." He started flexing his arms and legs, making sure everything was intact and still worked.

The other boy just grunted and Reno guessed that meant the other boy thought the same way about Shinra.

After a few more attempts at conversation on Reno's part they fell into silence. Reno got the impression that Rude didn't like him. He could understand why though, he had barged into his house and brought trouble with him. A few minutes passed before a small knock was heard on the door. Rude stood up and opened the door. Reno blinked as light flooded the room. The woman in the doorway stood over him and brushed the hair out of his eyes in a very motherly way. Reno could tell she was used to taking care of strangers.

"How do you feel?" she asked with a warm smile.

"Better. Thanks." Reno was briefly reminded of his own mother as she smiled kindly at him.

"Come into the kitchen and we'll get you something to eat okay?" Reno could tell she wasn't originally from the slums. She didn't use any slang or shorten her words at all.

Reno stood up and wobbled a little bit as he followed her into the small kitchen. After looking around he decided he liked the place, it was more like a home than the loft he had shared with his mom had been. The thought made him sad and he tried not to think about it.

"Do you know why they were after you?" She asked as she started making food. Rude sat next to him at the small table but didn't seem to share his mother's interest in why Reno was there.

"They wanted me to go into Shinra and work for 'em and I said no." Reno liked Rude's mom. She was nice.

"Not a smart idea." Rude rested his head on his folded hands.

"Probably not but I wasn't gonna go kill people yo. It's not right ya know?" Reno didn't know whether he liked Rude or not yet.

"You're brave for saying no. Most people don't live after doing that. You're just lucky you found us." Rude's mom set a plate of pancakes in front of both boys before making some for herself.

"Darn straight I am. My names Reno just so ya know." Reno took a bite of the pancakes. He hadn't had food like this in quite a while.

"It's nice to meet you Reno. I'm Fay and this is Rude." She sat down across from them and began to eat. "Where are your parents Reno?"

"My mom died a few days ago. That's why the guy said he wanted me to go to Shinra." Reno didn't know why he was simply telling her whatever she wanted to know, usually he was more secretive.

She got up and gave him a hug. Reno was surprised and didn't exactly know how to respond so he just let her hug him. "I'm sorry Reno. You're welcome to stay here if you like. We have a spare bed in Rude's room that you can use."

She let him go, "Thanks! That's really awesome of you. Most people wouldn't be this cool about helpin' someone out yo."

Rude got up and left the table. He was angry but Reno couldn't figure out why. He knew Rude didn't really like him but he was determined to change that. If he was going to stay it was best that everyone like him.

"I hope you and Rude can become good friends Reno. I think he needs one now that his brother is gone." Fay cleaned up her plate and Reno followed suit.

"What happened to him?" Reno asked as he helped her scrub the dishes clean. He liked talking to Fay and he owed her the help.

"Bobby got caught up in a gang fight a year ago and was shot in the head. He was dead before he hit the ground." She seemed about ready to cry and Reno decided it was best that he not ask about it again.

"Thanks again for letting me stay. It's really nice of ya." Reno knew why Rude was mad now, the spare bed must have been his brothers.

"It's no trouble at all Reno. You can go set up your stuff in Rude's room if you'd like. I can finish up here." Reno took the hint that she wanted to be alone and walked to the room Rude was in.

"Hey Rude. Thanks for the help yo. I know I don't deserve it and I hope I can pay you back for it someday." Reno set his pack on the floor.

Rude simply gestured at the empty bed before he left the room, "That one's yours."

Reno stared after the boy and promised himself that he would make Rude like him if it was the last thing he did.

Authors Note: Sorry it took so long for me to get this posted. I'll try to be quicker about it in the future. :)


	3. Chapter 3

The next few months passed in relative comfort for Reno. He found a new job in sector six and he helped Rude and Fay pay for food and power. Reno found himself getting rather attached to Fay, she nearly filled the hole in his heart where his mom had been before. Nearly, but not quite completely. Reno was able to make almost no headway in becoming friends with Rude, however he now knew what most of the other boy's grunts meant. His limited success didn't keep him from trying however, and everyday he tried to find a new way to make Rude like him.

"Hey Rude. Whatcha doin' today?" Reno asked over breakfast.

"Nothing." Rude cleared his place even though he hadn't finished eating and Reno knew it was so that he didn't have to be around him.

"Wanna come with me to the park then?" Reno asked, following Rude to the sink with his own half-finished breakfast.

"Not really." Rude seemed to hate it when Reno followed him around.

"Why not?" Reno followed Rude to their room.

"Don't like the park." Rude said as he grabbed his jacket.

"We don't hafta go to the park then yo. We could go hang out with Cecil'n'Mary." Cecil and Mary were two people Reno knew Rude got along with fairly well. He at least said more than three words at a time to them.

Rude grunted and Reno squealed with delight as they walked out of the house to go visit Cecil and Mary.

"Hey Ces, hey Mar!" Reno yelled at the two children playing in an abandoned parking lot.

"Hey Re, hey Rude!" Mary shouted as she ran towards them.

"Whatcha doin'? Reno asked jumping over the short fence surrounding the lot.

"Nuthin', we're just lookin' for treasure." Mary wiped some dirt from her small face before clapping Reno on the back, "You wanna help Re?"

"Sure Mar! How 'bout it Rude?" Reno asked as they walked towards Cecil.

Rude grunted.

They spent the rest of the morning playing in the dirt in the abandoned lot and hey found quite a few 'treasures' while they were at it. When the four parted ways to eat lunch Reno bounced the small shiny pebble he had found in his palm while Rude examined the broken key that had been hiding in the ruins.

"Where do ya think it goes Rude?" Reno asked as he walked, practically bouncing with each step.

"In a keyhole." Rude pocketed the key.

"But what kinda keyhole yo? Maybe its for a boss car or somethin'! That would be cool yo!" Reno was almost shouting as he concocted several scenarios about how the key could have been lost and what it went to before Rude found it, each story more ridiculous than the last.

"Maybe it's from a real treasure chest!" Reno said as he opened the door to the house.

"Who the heck would have a treasure chest in the slums?" Rude was beginning to wish he hadn't found the thing.

"Because no one'd look for it here!" Reno plopped down in a chair at the table and began to laugh.

"You're crazy." Rude went to their room leaving a pouting Reno behind.

"Am not." Reno crossed his arms over his chest. Just when he thought Rude was beginning to like him Rude would say something mean and walk away. Reno couldn't understand it and he didn't want to understand it. He got up and followed Rude to their room where he was laying in bed with his arms behind his head.

"Why do you hate me yo?" Reno asked leaning against the doorframe.

"Don't." Rude's eyes were closed.

"Yeah you do! You never want to play or talk to me yo! You keep runnin' away and it's makin' me angry yo!" Reno stood up straight and balled his small hands into fists at his sides.

"Doesn't mean I hate you." Rude sat up.

"Yeah it does! Ya don't like me and I know it yo so don't say ya don't!" Reno was shaking with repressed anger.

"Fine. Have it your way." Rude laid back down and laid his hands under his head.

"What's wrong Reno?" Fay asked as she poked her head into the small room.

"Nothin' ma'am." Reno turned and walked out of the house.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, rubbing the shiny pebble had found between his fingers as he walked. "Stupid Rude." He hissed under his breath as he kicked at a nearby can.

He walked for a long time and wound up back in sector five. He passed several buildings he used to be intimately familiar with and noted how they had changed while he was gone. His feet carried him back to the loft he had shared with his mom. It was still unoccupied but Reno could tell that someone had torn the place apart looking for things of value. He also noted that nothing was missing. He turned to leave to find Rude in the doorway, blocking the exit.

"What're ya doin' yo?" Reno was still angry.

"Bringing you home stupid. Mom's worried you'll hurt yourself." Rude crossed his arms in front of him.

"What if I am home?" Reno turned away and kicked a piece of an old chair that had been torn apart.

"This place?" Rude looked around the room with distaste. "This isn't a home Reno. It might have been, but it isn't anymore."

Reno hadn't heard Rude say so much to him voluntarily in a long time. He turned around, "It's still a home yo, if I want it to be it is."

"Suit yourself. It's a home." Rude leaned against the doorframe.

Reno pushed Rude out of the doorway and stomped down the stairs. "Leave me alone yo."

"Can't." Rude trailed behind, hands in his pockets.

"Like hell ya can't! You're just havin' fun messin' with me!" Reno scowled and turned on the steps, Rude almost bumped into him.

"Think what you want." Rude crossed his arms and started down at Reno.

"Stupid bastard! Why can't ya just go away!?" Reno shouted before turning back around and racing down the stairs.

Rude sighed and chased after him. His mom had told him to bring Reno back and he was going to do what she asked.

Reno ran with no destination in mind other than anywhere that didn't have Rude in it. He passed several of his old haunts before finally jumping through the window of a dilapidated home that was missing a good portion of its roof and had vines growing on the inside and outside of each grimy wall. He hid under the half ruined staircase and pulled his knees to his chest. He wrapped his arms around himself. He was so mad at Rude he could punch him, but he wouldn't because it would make Fay mad. So instead of hurting Rude he cried, he continued to cry even when he heard Rude clamor through the empty window frame and stand in front of him.

"Go away." Reno sobbed.

"I wasn't lying when I said I didn't hate you." Rude was panting slightly, Reno was faster than he was and it had been hard to catch up to him.

"Yeah right yo. Just go away, how many times do I have to tell ya?" Reno wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"You'll have to tell me more than once. Mom said to bring you home, I'm bringing you home whether you like it or not." Rude reached down and picked Reno up.

"Lemme go!" Reno screamed as he started kicking and punching every inch of Rude he could reach.

"Stop being a baby Reno." Rude huffed as he fought to keep his hold on Reno while he made for the door.

"I'm not being a baby!" Reno screamed as he tried to twist out of the much stronger boy's grip.

"Could've fooled me." Rude kicked the broken door open and carted Reno through the streets of the slums, the red-head kicking and fighting the whole way.

When they finally reached the house Rude set him down. Reno straightened his shirt before punching Rude in the chest.

Rude took the blow with practiced ease and grabbed Reno's hands to keep him from lashing out again. "Stop it Reno."

"No! You ain't the boss of me yo!" Reno pulled and struggled to free his hands from Rude's grasp.

"I don't care. You aren't going to make my mom upset understand? She's already lost one kid, she's not going to lose another." Rude tightened his grip as Reno struggled against him.

"I'm not her kid." Reno stopped struggling and began panting, fighting Rude was hard work.

"She considers you her kid now so you better act like a good one." Rude loosened his hold slightly so he wouldn't hurt Reno.

"You ain't my boss." Reno glared at Rude through narrowed eyes.

"Never said I was." Rude let go of Reno and pushed him towards the door.

Reno grumbled before opening the door and letting himself inside. Rude followed and Reno did his best to ignore him as Fay ran up and gave him a hug.

"You shouldn't have left like that Reno, you had me worried sick!" Fay began to inspect Reno from head to toe. "What have you been doing? Your pants are filthy and I don't think I want to know what's on your sleeve."

Reno grumbled and apology before allowing himself to be steered to the bathroom to get clean. He shot Rude a dirty look over his shoulder. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be friends with the bald boy anymore.

Rude sighed as he watched his mom lead Reno into the bathroom. He could remember when she had had to scold him in a similar manner and the thought made him smile. Reno had better learn fast that coming home dirty wasn't something his mom appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

For the next few days Reno and Rude didn't talk to each other. Reno was still mad and Rude just didn't feel like talking. After a while however Reno got over his anger and started following Rude like a puppy again. Over the next few months the two became inseparable and did everything together outside of work, to Reno's dismay and Rude's indifference. Rude enjoyed the small portions of his day when Reno wasn't around to pester him with questions but he also welcomed them when he was around.

Rude worked at a shabby bar cleaning tables and carrying crates. It was a fairly easy job and Rude enjoyed it, until closing time. Then his boss would take him to his office for what he called Rude's 'bonus'. It happened almost everyday and Rude soon stopped crying after each encounter. He managed to hide his pain from Reno and his mom but when he was alone he would curl up on himself and wish he were dead. Rude never allowed his mother or Reno to visit him at work so that they wouldn't be associated with him to closely. He had to be especially careful that Reno never came by, he didn't want his boss to try and give him the same treatment. Rude tried to find other jobs but his boss wouldn't let him leave. Rude learned to take the varied ways his boss gave him his 'bonus' in silence. He knew it was wrong that he let his boss do anything to him, but his boss had threatened to hurt his mom if he didn't.

So over the next few years Rude accepted his fate with stony silence. He never learned to enjoy his punishment and he never tried. He simply allowed it to happen so that his mom would stay safe. He and Reno grew closer as friends and Rude was glad to have the obnoxious boy around, especially after some of the more painful encounters he had after work. Reno could brighten his day with no effort and Rude was glad he hadn't simply let him leave that day.

Reno always felt that there was something Rude wasn't telling him, but he often brushed the sensation off as nothing but his own imagination. He and Rude fell into an easy pattern of keeping things from each other while managing to share just about everything else. Reno kept his one night stands away from Rude and Rude kept his abuse from Reno. It seemed harmless at the time, but sadly, that was not the case.

"Yo whatcha doin' today?" Reno was lounged on his bed as Rude got dressed.

"Work." Rude kept his face natural as he buttoned his shirt.

"That sucks, I was thinkin' we could go ta the gym or somethin'. What time ya gettin' off?" Reno sighed as he picked imaginary fluff off his shirt.

"Same time as always Reno." Rude laced his shoes carefully, wincing slightly as he bent over. His boss hadn't been gentle with him the last time Rude got his 'bonus'.

"Later than I hoped you'd be home. Want me to come visit during lunch?" Reno knew the answer before he asked the question, but he always asked.

"No." Rude grunted as he walked out the door, Reno close behind.

"Mind if I tag along with you for awhile then? I gotta go see if my boss needs me." Reno knew his boss didn't have any work for him today, but he would swing by anyways.

"Fine." Rude walked slowly to try and keep the pain at bay.

"You alright?" Reno pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit up. Fay didn't like the habit so he could only smoke outside.

"Peachy." Rude hoped his boss would be in a better mood today.

They walked amiably for a while, Reno occasionally making obvious observations to Rude and Rude simply grunting or nodding when it was necessary.

When they parted Reno was less than happy about how his friend was acting. He had noted with unease that Rude was walking slow again today and he heard the small puffs of pain Rude would let out every now and again. He had seen Rude act this way before and Reno knew something had to be going on at work. He couldn't see how being the bus-boy would leave Rude in pain but he didn't really question it. He then turned to his original destination, the shop he worked at. His boss shooed him away without a second glance and Reno was left with a day to spend at his leisure. He figured he would visit Rude for lunch later, even though Rude didn't want him to. He knew his friend would be upset but he didn't care.

"You're late Rude." His boss' voice echoed from behind the bar.

"Sorry sir." Rude grabbed an apron from a peg near the door.

His boss pulled him to one side, "What was that?"

"Sorry sir." Rude repeated feebly as his boss' lips pressed against his ear.

"It's 'sorry Mr. Crowlman' Rude. I don't like this 'sir' nonsense." Rude felt his boss's hand run down his arm and he shuddered.

"Sorry Mr. Crowlman." Rude kept his eyes on the floor, trying to block out his boss' greedy hands.

"That's better." Crowlman shoved him into the kitchen. "Clean out the fridge, something in there's gone bad."

"Yes Mr. Crowlman." Rude had learned a long time ago to simply do as he was told without a complaint or second glance.

The rest of Rude's day went relatively smooth in comparison to the days before it. His boss had been angry for no apparent reason lately and Rude was usually his outlet for frustration. He was glad his boss' temperament was beginning to improve.

He was happy about it until noon that is. He heard Reno before he saw him and he almost snapped the broom he held in his hands as he heard his name called.

"Yo Rude! Got a minute?" Reno called across the bar.

Rude tensed as his boss head poked out of his office. He saw Reno walking up to Rude and the fear in Rude's eyes confirmed his suspicions that Reno was someone he cared about.

"Yo Rude! I know ya can hear me. Turn around or somethin'." Reno was behind him now and Rude straightened to face him.

"I told you not to visit me at work." Rude kept his voice calm.

"How often do I do what I'm told Rude?" Reno sat in an unoccupied chair.

"I'm working Reno." Rude continued sweeping.

"I can tell. When do you get off for lunch?" Reno twiddled his thumbs in his lap.

"An hour." Rude could see his boss moving towards them.

"Who's your friend Rude?" Crowlman sounded far more interested than Rude would have liked.

"I'm Reno. Pleased ta meet ya." Reno extended a hand and Rude shuddered as Crowlman shook it.

"How come I haven't seen you around before?" Rude could see the lust in Crowlman's eyes as he looked Reno over. It made him feel sick.

"I don't usually visit this part of the sector." Reno could tell this man was sizing him up like a piece of meat and he didn't like it. He could spot a pervert from a mile away and this man practically reeked libido.

"That's a shame." Rude could almost see the wheels turning inside Crowlman's head and he didn't like it. "I'm sure Rude would enjoy visits from his friends more often."

"I don't think so yo. I'm actually breakin' one of his rules right now." Rude tensed, Reno was making things bad for both of them and he didn't seem to notice.

Crowlman's eyes flashed in Rude's direction before he resumed staring with open desire at Reno. "Hmph. Rude has his reasons for not wanting you over here. At night this is a very dangerous part of the sector."

Reno doubted that it was any safer during the day with this man around. He suddenly felt he knew why Rude never wanted him to come by and he wished he hadn't. "Everythin' in the slums is dangerous." Reno crossed his arms over his chest, "I'll see ya 'round Rude. Gotta get back to work." Reno turned on his heel and left the dingy bar in a rush.

"Why did you keep this from me Rude?" Crowlman turned towards Rude and Rude suddenly wished with all his heart that the bar was crowded. Too bad Crowlman's beer was as bad as his attitude.

"You never asked Mr. Crowlman." Rude didn't meet the angry gaze of the man in front of him.

Crowlman ran a finger along Rude's jawline before grabbing his chin and forcing his head up. "How long have you know him Rude?"

"A few years." Rude averted his eyes from his boss' forceful gaze. He was just as tall as Crowlman now, but he was still scared to death of the man.

"You never felt the need to mention to me that you had a lover?" Crowlman ran one of his hands along Rude's collarbone.

"He's not my lover, he just my friend." Rude shuddered at the contact.

"Good. I don't think tonight is going to be a very profitable evening, do you?" Crowlman let his hungry fingers move down Rude's chest.

"You haven't had a customer in a few days." Rude tightened his grip on the broom.

"We're in agreement then. Close up the front and then come to my office." Crowlman let his fingers linger on Rude's chest before he turned and left.

Rude clenched his eyes shut and fought back tears. He was still in pain from the last time his boss had taken him and he didn't think he could take another dose of Crowlman's 'kindness'. He closed the front as slowly as he could and by the time he flipped the sign to read closed he had wasted an hour. He knew Crowlman wouldn't be happy about his lolly-gagging but he wasn't exactly eager to see his boss again.

When he entered the office his hands were shaking in fear but the rest of his body remained statue still and composed. Crowlman rounded the desk and stood in front of Rude. "You know what you need to do Rude." Rude nodded and knelt. Crowlman undid his pants and shoved his half-hard cock into Rude's mouth and Rude stayed still as he let him come in his mouth. He almost choked several times but that only served to make Crowlman go faster. By the time Crowlman was finished Rude's throat was rubbed raw and he was close to tears again. He didn't dare make a sound as Crowlman undid his pants and bent him over roughly. He did his best to ignore the small sensations his boss' hands sent through his body as Crowlman tried to get him hard. Rude just wanted this to be over and done with so he could go home. After a few more minutes of toying with him Crowlman entered him roughly and quickly spent himself inside him. Rude let a few tears of pain fall down his face as he felt his boss prepare himself for another round. He hoped Crowlman would slake his lust soon.

It took Crowlman another hour to completely satisfy himself. By the time he was done Rude wasn't able to stop the tears of pain that were rolling fat and wet down his face. He knew he was bleeding and he prepared himself for Crowlman's usual ending to their 'meetings'. He heard the whip slice the air before he felt it sting his back. Crowlman yelled obscenities at him as he tried to get Rude to respond with more than tears as he lashed his back and ass open. Rude didn't make a sound. It took several lashes for Crowlman to get sick of hitting him but Rude knew it only got worse after the whipping was over. He stayed in the same position crying silent tears as Crowlman laid into him with his fists, then a small knife. When Rude had lost enough blood that he was close to passing out Crowlman poured a strong potion over his back and forced another down Rude's throat. When he was done Rude looked good as new but felt like he was going to throw up.

"Next time you feel like hiding things from me Rude I want you to remember that I can get whatever I want and do whatever I want to whoever I want." Crowlman growled into Rude's ear as Rude re-dressed. "Next time it'll be your little red-head friend." Crowlman got up and Rude walked out of the office with tears still streaming down his face. The potions may have taken away the damage but they didn't remove the pain or the memories. Rude walked slowly back home, wiping his tears away as he went. He needed to show a strong face when he saw Reno. He had to force him to promise never to visit again. He wished Reno had listened to him before, then Crowlman would have less to hang over his head.

Only when he was sure that his face showed no signs of the tears and that his breathing was slow and regular did he enter the house. Reno was sitting against the wall near the door and his mom wasn't due to be home from work for another hour or more.

"You're home early." Reno looked angry and Rude thought he could figure out why.

"Bar closed early tonight." Rude gingerly sat down on the sofa in the small room.

"What the hell is that shit-head doing to ya Rude?" Reno's eyes were narrowed.

"Nothing." Rude lied easily. "Don't ever go to the bar again Reno. Understand me?"

"I saw how he talked to ya after he thought I left. I was watching through the window. I know a perv when I see one Rude and I also know that man was definitely not chattin' with ya about the weather yo." Reno folded his arms across his chest.

"You saw?" Rude gulped. He hadn't counted on that.

"I saw enough ta know." Reno stood up, his thin body barely able to keep his clothes in place.

Rude held his head in his hands and said nothing. Now that Reno had seen he had no excuses left.

"Come on yo how could you let him?" Reno said angrily as he stood in front of Rude. "You've gotta be twice as tough as this jack-ass yet ya let him hurt ya like this? It makes no sense yo!"

"He threatened to hurt mom. Now he's threatening to hurt you. You shouldn't have fucking come Reno." Rude kept his head down.

"Dammit Rude! Ya can get a job that's better'n that! Ya can get a boss that's better'n that! You're fucking eighteen Rude! Ya have a say in what the hell goes on with your life yo!" Reno sat beside Rude and threw a comforting arm around his shoulders.

"If I try to leave he'll get worse. You don't know him Reno, he's ruthless." Rude's composure slipped enough that a few tears slid out the corners of his eyes.

"Ya just need ta kick his ass and leave Rude. I'll help yo." Reno smiled at the thought. "I've been thinkin' about this anyways. Neither of us is gettin' paid much and what you're goin' through is somethin' no one should hafta go through. The only job that pays any kind of gil down here is bein' a thug for Corneo. I don't much like the idea but it seems like a better option than this. At least if you're one of Corneo's boys no one will mess with ya."

"Corneo?" Rude looked up. "Mom would hate us if we did that!"

"She'd get used ta the idea. She deserves better'n this too Rude. If we work for Corneo she won't hafta work as much. She'll have protection too yo." Reno rested his head on Rude's shoulder.

Rude thought it over quickly. He knew Reno was right, his mom did deserve better and being part of Corneo's crew was easy gil and simply being associated with Corneo made people think twice before they tried to mess with you.

"I don't think there's any alternative to it." Rude leaned his chin on one hand in a defeated manner.

"We'll head up ta Corneo's place tomorrow mornin'. Might hafta fight a few guys ta prove we can do it yo. Think you're up ta givin' out a good ass-whoopin'?" Reno smiled at the thought.

"Always." Rude smiled, Reno did always manage to make him feel better about everything.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Reno & Rude wound their way through busy Wall Market to Don Corneo's mansion. Reno lead the way and Rude was just fine with that, he wasn't really keen on doing this anyways. The idea of being someone's thug made him feel a little apprehensive, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be a glorified bouncer for Corneo but he knew for a fact that he didn't want to work for Crowlman anymore either. So he walked silently behind Reno, intent on letting his boisterous friend do all the talking. Rude had no finesse for words anyways.

Reno walked confidently towards Corneo's mansion, forgetting for a moment that the guard would probably keep them from entering because they were men. He knew that Corneo was only fond of women and he was suspicious of other males but Reno didn't really mind the possibility of being thrown out head first, it thrilled him actually. Fact was he was simply ready for action and activity of any kind.

They made it to the mansion with few problems, a pickpocket tried to get Rude's wallet but that ended as quickly as it started. Reno found it amusing how one quick icy stare from Rude would send people running the other way looking very much like they had just shit their pants. When Reno reached the front door the guard looked him over suspiciously and Reno looked the guard over with just as little discretion.

"We don't allow guys in here bub." The guard uncrossed his arms, probably preparing to throw Reno out in case he caused any trouble.

"Not looking for sex yo, tryin' ta get hired." Reno put out the cigarette that had been lazily hanging from his lips.

The man looked him over, apparently amused. "You'll have to prove you can do this job, it ain't all rainbows and butterflies."

"Course it ain't Corneo runs the Honeybee's not the Butterflies or Rainbows. I figured ya'd know that." Reno shoved his hands in his pockets with a smug grin.

"Shut yer trap smart ass. I'll see if the Don want's anything to do with a couple scrubs like yerselves." The guard walked inside leaving Reno lounging against a wall with Rude standing stock still beside him.

"You shouldn't piss off someone you might work with." Rude crossed his arms and pointedly looked at Reno.

"Tell him that." Reno lit up another cigarette.

They waited in silence, both fairly nervous about how the Don would receive them. The guard walked back out and motioned for them to follow. Reno stood up with a cocky grin and threw his cigarette on the ground before following the man inside, Fay's rules about smoking inside were engraved on his brain.

The man led them up to Corneo's office and then left them alone with the Don. Corneo examined them over his glasses as he took a drink of something amber colored.

"Sit gentlemen." Reno and Rude obeyed, taking seats opposite the large man, "You're interested in working for me I hear?"

"Sounds like the general idea yeah." Reno leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs in front of him. Rude thought he looked far to at ease here.

"Got names?" Corneo asked as he looked them over.

"I'm Reno and this is Rude." Reno introduced the casually, seeming unbothered by Corneo's scrutinizing stare.

"Well, I can't hire you without hearing your reasons for wanting to work for me." Corneo kept his eyes on Reno as he poured himself another drink.

"We want to actually get paid for doing work. What we get in the slums just isn't enough. We heard that working for you doesn't take a lot of brains which is good 'cause neither of us have many of those yo." Reno put his hands behind his head as he finished with a laugh.

Corneo gave a soft chuckle, "True, it doesn't take brains to work for me but it does take a certain amount of physical prowess. You also need to be willing to do whatever I ask of you, this includes killing people you might be fond of. Think you can do that?"

"Think so." Reno answered with another smile, "Truth is there aren't many people we're fond of yo."

"How soon can you quit the job's you have now?" Corneo's stare at Reno was intense and Rude felt like he was barging in on something private for the man.

"I can quit at the drop of a hat but Rude here," Reno jerked his head in Rude's direction, "his boss isn't exactly the good kind."

"How so?" Corneo directed this question at Rude but Reno answered for him.

"Crowlman is more physical than Rude'd like and he's got enough libido to go through about twenty prostitutes without batting an eyelash. He's also quite the sadistic little bastard if you catch my meaning." Reno figured Rude wouldn't enjoy talking about his experience with Crowlman and the wince Rude gave at hearing his boss' name was enough to tell him he had been right.

"Crowlman? We've been meaning to get rid of him for a few years now, he's been less than kind to some of my workers." Reno could tell Corneo meant his prostitutes. "Don't worry about him, we've been trying to finish him off for months but we haven't located him yet. Where is he?"

"Bar in sector six." Rude said shortly.

"And here I thought you were mute." Corneo laughed as he jotted down where Crowlman was, there were only so many bars in sector six, he wouldn't be hard to find.

"So think you'll hire us?" Reno asked hopefully, noting that Corneo didn't ask how old they were. He knew that Corneo didn't really care about their ages, Corneo knew that the two were willing to work for him and that seemed to be all he needed.

"I think you'll have to show me if you have what it takes first. I'll have you fight a couple of my boys and see how you do. Do you require weapons?" Corneo returned to staring intensely at Reno, want apparent in his eyes.

"We've got our fists yo." Reno gave another cocky grin to Corneo and the man smiled.

"Indeed you do." Corneo chuckled as he pressed an intercom on his desk, "Get the gym ready, we need to test some newbies."

After a moment two of Corneo's thugs came in and led Reno and Rude out of the room and towards what Reno assumed to be the gym. The men left them in the middle of the room and walked away as Corneo took a seat near the edge of what Reno could only describe as an arena.

"Don't pull your punches boys, my men sure won't. I'll let them pick who goes first." Corneo smirked as the two thugs came over to face Reno and Rude. Reno could tell they were sizing them up and he could see the small smirk cross their faces as they looked him over. He crossed his arms and quietly allowed himself to be surveyed. He didn't like being laughed at, but he knew he would be able to wipe the smug grins from their faces soon.

"Made your choices boys?" Corneo addressed his men but his eyes were on Reno and Rude.

One of the men gave a small smug grin before pointing at Reno. Reno rolled his eyes, the man was twice his size, but Reno could tell he was slower than a legless chocobo.

"Everyone else clear the ring then." Corneo sat back and looked Reno over as the red-head began to stretch his back and roll his neck lazily. The other man cracked his knuckles and grinned manically.

"You may start." Corneo sipped at his glass as he spoke.

The man lunged at Reno without hesitation and Reno nimbly dodged the first blow and his own landed on the man's back and propelled him to the ground. The man got up quickly and lunged at Reno again, getting the same treatment for his efforts. Reno laughed as he continued to dodge the mans blows and force him to the ground. The man was sweating profusely and Reno seemed completely unfazed. The man changed tactics, circling Reno like a predator circles it's prey. Reno simply gazed at the man with a smirk as he twisted slowly to follow the man's movements. He seemed mildly amused, the other man seemed highly annoyed. The man took up a boxers stance and began to punch at Reno as hard as he could. Reno dodged all but one, which caught him in the ear. Reno punched the man in the stomach, lower than he intended, and the man bent double and Reno pushed him to the floor. The man got back up slowly and took up his boxing stance again. Reno smirked as he began dodging blows, hoping only to enrage the man further. His tactic worked as the man's movements became more erratic and Reno's grin only got wider as he continued to flow around the man's fists.

"Oi! Arty you gonna dance wi' 'im or finish 'im?" The mans fellow called through cupped hands.

"I'm gonna finish 'im!" Arty cried angrily as he threw another punch. Reno dodged it and threw his knee into the man's stomach before pushing him to the ground and pinning him there.

"I think I win." Reno panted as he held the man down, looking up at Corneo for confirmation of this fact.

"It would seem you have." Corneo's eyes gleamed as he gestured for Reno to release the man.

Reno grinned and let the man up. The man threw Reno a glare and walked back to his friend who was laughing raucously. Rude clapped him gently on the back as he took up his place in the ring. The other man walked up, his eyes still streaming with laughter. Internally Rude grinned, he could tell this man didn't take him seriously.

"You may begin." Corneo leaned forward in his chair and rested his chin on his hand.

Rude waited for the other man to make the first move. The man threw a punch to Rude's stomach which Rude didn't even flinch at. Rude then countered with a punch to the man's head, knocking him to the floor. The man sat there dazed for a moment and then shakily stood back up. He lunged for Rude haphazardly and Rude delivered another blow to the man's head and knocked him out cold.

Corneo grinned, "You're hired. You can start tomorrow. I'll have Scotch come show you where you will stay and he'll explain the rules of working for me." Corneo got up and left the room, throwing a glance at Reno as he left. The other two men slipped out behind him, Arty carrying his incapacitated comrade.

"We did it yo!" Reno threw a fist in the air before clapping Rude on the shoulder.

"Calm down." Rude crossed his arms in front of him.

"Aren't you excited yo? This means no more Crowlman! No more just scraping by! We can actually help Fay out yo! She won't have to work so much anymore!" Reno placed his hands on his hips and glared at Rude, daring him to ruin the happy thought of financial stability.

"Didn't you listen Reno? He said we'll have to kill people." Rude glared back just as heatedly.

"I know," Reno scratched his head and lowered his gaze, "but what choice do we have? You CAN'T work for Crowlman anymore and I'm not letting you work here by yourself."

A man walked in, interrupting their discussion. "You the new guys?"

"Yeah, nice ta meet ya." Reno threw a sloppy salute to the man.

"Follow me, we've got things to discuss." Scotch walked out of the room with Reno in tow and Rude directly behind them.

"What kind of things?" Reno stuffed his hands in his pockets as he listened to Scotch speak.

"Rules. First rule; if you're guarding the Don and you hear anyone but him beg for mercy you don't care. Don't even think about going in during one of his sessions unless you hear him screaming with anything other than pleasure." Reno made a disgusted face that did not go unnoticed by Scotch, "get used to it kid, that's the line of work you've gotten yourself into." Scotch lead them down a corridor lined with doors, "This will be where the two of you stay while you're here. Sometimes the Don'll want you to stay overnight in case he needs something from ya. Also, this is where you can bring any 'rewards' he lets you have." Scotch gave an evil grin as he showed Reno and Rude into a room hideously decorated in reds and purples. "You'll get used to that idea too kid. Don't ever bring a girl you wanna keep around here though, the Don doesn't like us mixing our personal lives with work so it's best to just not have a personal life at all. If you've got family make sure they keep their heads down and don't come around. Might just lose you your lives if they do." Scotch showed them out of the room and walked them back up the corridor. "If he ever requests anything from you personally you give it to 'im and you don't ask questions about it. It'll save you a lot of trouble if you just do what you're told. Also," Scotch turned to face them directly, almost making Reno bump into him, "if you decide you wanna leave there's two ways you can go about it. One; try ta convince the Don that you can't work for him anymore or two; simply leave. Either way, you won't be getting out of here on your own two feet understand?" Reno nodded. "You've just got yourselves neck deep in the business end of the slums, let's see how long you can swim eh?" Scotch chuckled and led them into a smaller room that branched off the main lobby. "This is where we keep all our weapons and shit. You can come in here and get what you need from Curly over there," Scotch jerked his thumb towards a heavily tattooed man lounging in a chintz armchair. "he'll getcha whatever ya need no questions asked. Show 'em why you won't ask questions Curly." The man named Curly opened his mouth, showing the lack of tongue inside. Reno shuddered inwardly at the sight and Rude turned his head. Scotch laughed and led them out of the room. "There's reasons you keep your head down around here, get it?" He didn't wait for an answer, "Don says he wants you bozo's back here tomorrow afternoon for your first guard duty. Make sure you get any outside affairs taken care of, we'll treat the two of ya to a kinder welcoming when you're done. You'll be stayin' the night by the way, bring extra clothes. Don doesn't care what you wear so long as you cover up alright?" Scotch directed them out the front door of the mansion. "See ya tomorrow."

Authors Note: Sorry this took so long to post! I've been trying to get it written but I haven't had a ton of time for it. Blame AP World History for that.


	6. Chapter 6

Reno and Rude showed up the next day, Rude silent and brooding, Reno lively yet so deeply immersed in keeping the details of what he saw and heard that he was little better than Rude. The guard at the door greeted them curtly and let them enter and Scotch met up with them in the room he had shown them the day before.

"Doin' alright guys?" Scotch asked as he leaned against the doorway.

"Doin' fine yo. What we up to today?" Reno asked as he bounced lightly on one of the two beds in the room.

"Just making sure the girls don't get hurt by any of the crazies down at Honeybee Inn." Reno almost laughed, this man was calling someone else crazy.

"Sounds like a plan yo." Reno got up and stretched his arms behind his head.

Scotch turned towards Rude, "Don wants me to thank you for him. We got Crowlman last night, we'd been searching Sectors two and three thinking he wouldn't be stupid enough to be this close to us but, turns out he was that stupid."

Rude nodded in reply but inside he was almost frantic with glee. _Crowlman was gone!_

Scotch led them to the weapons room which he dubbed 'Curly's place' and threw each of them a gun and a box of bullets. "Just in case." He said with a manic glimmer to his eyes.

Their first shift at Honeybee Inn was fairly uneventful. Rude's presence was enough to quiet down any rabble-rousers and Reno could out talk any man who dared try and go in without showing a membership card. They fortunately didn't have any of the 'crazies' Scotch described try and go in but, much to Rude's amusement and Reno's embarrassment, some of the men took quite a liking to Reno in their varying drunken stupors and Reno spent half the night trying to fend off men more interested in him than they were in getting in.

After their shift was done Scotch took them back to the mansion where they met up with a small group of Corneo's men. They then headed straight for the nearest bar and prepared to _initiate _the two new guys.

Rude remained fairly sober as he watched Reno down shot after shot to try and keep up with Corneo's thugs. Reno kept it up until even some of Corneo's men were in awe and even managed to continue tipping back drinks for the rest of the night. Rude wasn't exactly surprised at Reno's ability to hold his liquor and he held his own as the men pressed drinks on him, he was determined to stay merely buzzed so that he could remember most of the nights events.

Reno took everything they had to throw at him. He participated in every drinking game imaginable and even won a few of them. He had several women and even men buying him drinks the whole night in half-hearted attempts to get in his pants but Reno kept enough sense about himself to keep most of the people advancing on him away from that particular area. Most of them, Rude laughed as more than a few women managed to get more than a little indecent on Reno's lap and even some men tried their hands at undressing the red-head. Rude himself had a few offers thrown his way for one-night stands but he dismissed the advances with curt 'no's' and disinterested grunts. He wasn't interested in casual sex, well, he was interested but he wasn't going to do anything about it, he had his reputation to think of.

When he woke up the next morning Reno wasn't exactly sure what had happened the night before. He remembered brief flashes of tipping back beer, a girl or two sitting on his lap trying to get his drunk as hell body interested, and he also vaguely remembered a guy named Mukki trying very hard to get in his pants. He also remembered why he usually kept his drinking binges to a minimum. His head was pounding and his tongue felt faintly furry as he sat up with a groan, placing his face in his hands. The pain hit him immediately and he yelped loudly at the sudden sensation shooting through his brain. He tenderly felt his cheeks and was convinced that he had been punched out which, along with the copious amounts of beer, would explain the severity of his current hangover. He got up and walked past a sleeping Rude to look in the gaudy mirror hanging in the equally distasteful room at Corneo's that he had somehow managed to stumble into after his night of heavy drinking. He almost screamed at what he saw. Across his cheek-bones were two vivid red tattoos that matched his hair color exactly. He walked over to Rude and gave his shoulder a shake as he tried to subdue his panic.

"Fwhag?" Rude was barely coherent as Reno tried to make his thick tongue form words.

"What happened last night yo?" His voice was panicked but he didn't bother trying to hide it.

Rude sat up, holding his head. "You drank everyone under the table, had every female in that bar between the ages of sixteen and forty flirting with you shamelessly and got dragged to the tattoo parlor by Scotch and Abner and a couple of other guys I can't remember." Rude looked up, "I'm guessing those are tattoos?"

"What the fuck do you think they are shit-head? Birthmarks?" Reno grabbed his pounding head as he forced his eyes to focus on the large swooping marks just below his eyes. "Where the fuck where you?"

"I was behind you in everything." Rude rubbed his eyes as his head began to clear slightly, "I was behind you in number of beers drank, girls wooed, and poor decisions made."

"Fuck Fay's gonna kill me!" Reno collapsed on his bed with a groan.

"Don't say my mom's name and fuck in the same sentence Reno." Rude got up and started to dress.

"Sorry." Reno followed suit as best he could but it seemed he had lost his socks during their outing along with his shirt. It took him a moment to locate the bag of clothes he had brought with him and even longer for his clumsy fingers to figure out how buttons and buckles worked.

"What the hell is in my ears?" Rude nearly yelled as he clutched at the appendages in question.

"Holy fuck! Boss piercings yo!" Reno examined Rude's now heavily decorated ears with a look of triumph, "Just how behind me in poor decisions were you?"

"Not very far behind." Rude grinned and jabbed at Reno's left ear, "You got one too!"

Reno felt his ear and, sure enough, a small hoop was dangling from it. "Holy shit! Your mom is going to have a hissy fit when she sees us yo!" Reno tugged at the hoop and winced in slight pain, the wince causing him more discomfort as his slightly inflamed and swollen cheeks moved. "Remind me not to move my face today."

"Remind me never to go drinking with you again." Rude felt up his ears with a look of extreme distaste etched onto his face.

They left the mansion and made their way home dragging their feet knowing that once she saw them Fay was going to be one hundred percent pissed.

It wasn't as bad as Reno thought it would be. Fay had opened the door and let them inside before staring in shock and horror at their appearances. She didn't seem able to speak for awhile as Reno and Rude both shifted guiltily where they stood.

When she had collected herself she simply asked, "What were you thinking?"

"We weren't. To tanked to really form any good thoughts Fay." Reno fixed his eyes on his shoes.

"Obviously! I didn't want you boys in this business at all in the first place and now you come home looking like this after your first night of work? You boys are in so much trouble! If you were still small enough to bend over my knee you wouldn't be able to sit for a week! As it is, I have few options left to me in the punishment department so for now, go to your room and think about what you've done until I can think of something truly fitting your disgraceful behavior!" Fay pointed them to their room with a shaking finger and they both obeyed without question. They might be well on their way to becoming dangerous thugs but when Fay issued a command they didn't dare refuse.

"I like your piercings Rude." Reno said quietly as they both laid back and stared at the ceiling.

"Your tattoos are actually pretty cool. You can hide your wimpy little piercing pretty easy though if you want." Rude smirked as Reno sat bolt upright in his bed.

"It's not wimpy! It's awesome yo! Your ears may resemble pincushions yo but my piercing is _tasteful_." Reno playfully sneered the last word, hoping to incite Rude.

Rude simply laid on the bed and smiled, "Tasteful my ass Reno. At least now you'll have some kind of intimidation factor with those tattoos. The piercing is going to make you even harder to believe when you tell those freaks at the Inn you're a guy."

"Shut up asshole! It's not my fault they're leeches with hormonal issues!" Reno threw his pillow at Rude.

Rude laughed as the pillow landed on his face. "Mature Reno, mature." He placed the pillow under his head and Reno snatched it back from him.

"That's mine yo! Keep your head off it!" Reno stroked the pillow as if to remove germs before placing it gingerly on the bed.

"You shouldn't throw it at me then." Rude sat up and stuck his tongue out at Reno.

"Since when do you stick your tongue out at people?" Reno was amazed, he had never seen Rude do anything so immature in his life.

"I guess your childishness is rubbing off on me." Rude chuckled.


	7. Chapter 7

The next few months working for Corneo were pleasant at best, Reno wasn't exactly happy throwing people out of the Honeybee's but he had to admit, his duties there were far more pleasant than his duties inside the mansion. He hated guarding Corneo with a passion, the man would make them stand outside his door while he held 'auditions' for his new 'bride'. Most of the women were willing but some of them weren't. Reno hated when they weren't, that meant Corneo would just rape them. Reno hated listening to the pleas of those women and their frightened screams would echo in his head for hours after.

Tonight however, was a good night for Corneo. Someone actually wanted the slob and all Reno and Rude had to do was make sure they weren't disturbed. Reno was disturbed though, very _very_ disturbed. Something he let Rude know about every five seconds.

"This is messed up yo." Reno said for about the fiftieth time that hour.

"So you've said." Rude sighed as he leaned against the wall, trying to block out the sex sounds coming from the other side.

"I know yo but it's still fucking wrong!" Reno crossed his arms and glared at the wall.

"Lower your voice, we can't disturb him either." Rude shifted as Reno's glare was turned on him.

"I don't think they give a damn, they're a little _busy_." Reno's tattoos made his glare even more effective.

"I hate this just as much as you do, but working here was your idea." Rude countered with a glare of his own.

"I know yo, I don't regret it though." Reno sighed. Being a thug might suck, but it was worth it. Rude wasn't being abused anymore, Fay actually got time to herself now because Reno and Rude made enough money to support them and any money she made was for extra things that they didn't need. Their home was better now, Reno and Rude spent their free time fixing it up and making it comfortable. Fay was still against them working for Corneo, but only half-heartedly. She couldn't deny that the job paid well and had marvelous benefits for both of them. She was still upset about the occasional drinking binges Reno would have but so long as Rude brought him home in one piece she couldn't complain to much.

"Me neither." Rude agreed, looking down at the floor.

Reno sighed and gave a wane smile, "Whatcha wanna do after yo?"

"We should go see mom." Rude shrugged.

"Sounds like a plan yo." Reno leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

"You hear about what's gonna happen to Arty and Chase?" Rude continued surveying the empty hall. He and Reno had been at odds with the pair since Corneo had made them fight as a job interview.

"No what?" Reno raised his eyebrow and looked at Rude.

"They're being taken out. Got hooked on the drugs some of the Honeybee's are selling and went apeshit. Hurt a couple of them and you know how Corneo is about people hurting the girls." Rude said this as nonchalantly as he could.

Reno nodded, "It's their own fault. They shoulda known better than to fuck themselves up on drugs. Especially when some of the girls tamper with the drugs. Lace 'em with only the gods know what so they have more to sell. Everyone knows that."

"Knowing about it doesn't mean it's going to stop you." Rude pointed out sullenly.

"Yeah." Reno looked at the floor and sighed heavily. He didn't like Arty or Chase but it was still strange to hear that they were going to get killed. He didn't think much of them but he had been sure they wouldn't be that stupid, almost no one was. "This is messed up yo."

"So you've said." Rude sighed and stretched, he was starting to get tired of how repetitive Reno was getting.

They ended their shift when someone brought in another 'bride candidate' for Corneo and they grabbed their things and left for home without any second thoughts. Reno was excited to see Fay as he and Rude hadn't seen her in a few days due to all the work Corneo was having them do now. Rude led the way home with a small smile that Reno hadn't seen him wear in a while. Rude was still caught between a battle of his morals and opinions and he was frustrated by it most of the time. He didn't let it show, but Reno knew he was struggling without having to see it.

"WE'RE HOOOOME!!!" Reno bellowed into the house as they entered.

Fay didn't greet them at all which was strange. Usually she was home and even if she was asleep when they came home she would get up and see them. They knew she wasn't scheduled to work that night and she hadn't left a note so they immediately began to worry. Reno continued calling out for Fay as he roamed the house with Rude in tow. The first sound they heard in reply was the gentle roar of the shower from the bathroom and Reno immediately began to pound on the door.

"Yo Fay!" He called as he knocked. She didn't answer and he turned the knob and opened the door slightly. "Yo Fay!" He called louder. She still didn't answer.

He fully opened the door and a gruesome sight met his eyes. Fay was sprawled naked on the bottom of the tub, her eyes open and glassy with fear still shinning in them as her mouth remained open in an unheard scream. Her blood was splattered on all areas of the room; the walls, the toilet, the sink and it mingled with the water of the shower as it curled towards the drain. Reno took in the sight, horrified at the brutality of the scene. He could tell the killer had enjoyed every minute of it and Reno looked up at the ceiling, hoping to see something the was white and clean in the room but the killer had tainted that too by drawing a few smiley faces on the ceiling in her blood. The thick red faces gazed down at him, dripping and grotesque as they smiled happily.

Reno bent double, his stomach beginning to heave at the sight. Rude pushed past him and knelt beside the tub, turning off the water as he did so. He pulled Fay out and covered her damp, bloody, lifeless form with a towel. Reno saw his friends broad shoulders begin to shake as he silently cried. Reno could feel the tears falling down his own face as he took in the sight. He stumbled over to Rude and placed a hand on his shoulder as he fell to his knees.

Rude pulled Fay's body close to him and leaned on Reno with her in his arms, burying his head in his friends shoulder to avoid looking at the lifeless eyes staring blankly up at him. They sat and cried for what seemed like hours. He didn't think he would ever run out of tears and Reno's shirt was soon soaked.

Reno reached over and gently pulled Fay's eyelids shut and closed her mouth. She was beginning to grow cold and Reno chocked on his tears as he held her stiffening hand in his. He wrapped his other arm around Rude and held him tightly against his chest as he cried. He closed his eyes to try and block out the scene in front of him but it was carved into his brain and danced across his eyelids.

"I'm gonna find the bastard that did this and kill him!" Rude was almost screaming the words as anger began to take the place of shock.

"You wont have to look very far." A snide voice called out behind them.

Reno whipped around in an instant getting to his feet and pulling a knife out of his belt. Rude placed Fay on the ground before turning to face her killer.

They were shocked as they looked at Arty and Chase, drenched in Fay's blood and grinning from ear to ear.

"You fucking bastards!" Reno screamed as he clenched the knife tighter in his hand.

"You deserved it!" Chase screamed as he dove at Reno, his own blood coated knife in hand. Reno reacted quickly, dodging the blow and pressing his own knife into Chase's arm. Chase screamed and Reno pushed him away, barely ducking the knife that passed in front of his face.

Arty lunged at Rude trying to tackle him to the ground as he stabbed. Rude grabbed the knife and forced the point away from him and rolled over, throwing Arty to the floor and crushing him beneath him.

"What the hell was the point of this!?" Reno screamed as Chase lunged for him again. He dodged quickly and thrust his knife into Chase's back where it lodged itself into his shoulder blade. Chase turned around before Reno could pull it out and he lunged at him again, his knife scratching open Reno's arm all the way to the shoulder. Reno caught Chase by the wrist before the knife could cut his throat and he struggled to keep it away from him as he was pushed into the wall.

"You were gonna whack us!" Arty screamed as he pushed Rude off of him and reached for his blade. Rude grabbed Arty's arm and twisted it back as far as he could listening for the satisfying cracking noise that would tell him it was broken.

"What the hell made you think that?" Reno grunted as he used both his hands to keep Chase's sharp blade away from his face. The adrenaline rushing through his body kept him from feeling the pain in his arm but he could feel and see the blood dripping out of it.

"We heard! We heard Scotch say we were gonna get whacked! We knew it was gonna be you who did it!" Chase sweated with effort, his eyes dilated and dripping madness.

Reno felt sweat mingle with the tears on his face as he strained against Chase. He heard a crack like a gunshot and a howl of pain echo around the small room as Rude pulled Arty's arm to the breaking point. He looked at Chase's face and saw the unearthly glow in the man's eyes mingled with the sheen created by whatever drugs Corneo's girls had sold him. "Rude they've got mako in them!" Reno cried out as he finally forced the knife away from his throat and into the wall.

"Mako?" Rude grunted and caught Arty's good arm as the man tried to strangle him.

Chase didn't bother to pull the blade out as he lunged for Reno again with a primal roar.Reno ducked Chase's first blow but not the second. The second sent him tripping back over Fay's body and into the tub stained with her blood. Chase was on him in an instant and Reno tried to protect himself as he felt hands wrap around his throat. He choked as he tried to pry Chase's fingers off his neck but he felt his airway begin to close off. He knew he wasn't much of a match for Chase normally but now that Chase had mako in his system Reno was at an even worse disadvantage.

"_Rude_!" He managed to squeak the name out before his lungs ran out of air.

Rude shoved Arty into the sink, cracking his skull. He then grabbed Arty's knife off the ground and shoved it into Chase's back before he pulled him off Reno and threw him to the floor. Arty charged him again and Rude slammed his fists into the man's head, breaking his already cracked skull even more. Chase was up in a second and Reno tackled him to the floor, forcing the knives even deeper into his back. Rude turned around and picked Arty up by the scruff of his neck and smashed his head against the sink once more before letting his limp form fall to the ground.

Reno straddled Chase and began to punch him with all the strength he could muster. Rude grabbed him and pulled him off before picking Chase up and setting him down in a sitting position. He grabbed Chase's hair and forced his head back. "Why the hell did you do this you sick bastard."

Chase seemed to have been forced back to reality by the pain from his back, "We heard you were gonna whack us. We figured we'd get you first."

"But why did you kill _her._" Rude's voice was dangerously low.

"He figured it would piss you off, throw off your judgement and make you easier to get rid of." Chase glanced over at Arty who was bleeding heavily onto the tiled floor. "We were high, Arty planned most of it."

Rude slammed his fist into Chase's face as hard as he could repeatedly. When he was done he let Chase's limp form sink to the ground.

Reno picked Fay up and carried her into her bedroom. He set her on the bed before his body suddenly gave up on him and forced him to vomit all over the floor. He fell to his knees and held his stomach as he felt his head swim.

Rude threw a blanket over Fay before sitting down beside Reno and rubbing his back. "You okay?"

Reno whimpered slightly as his stomach started to heave again. "Why?"

"I don't know." Rude got up and shut the bathroom door, trying to hide the grotesque mess from his retching friend.

"But Fay....she's..." Reno curled in on himself and simply rocked in the fetal position for lack of a more sophisticated way to show his pain.

"I know Reno. We need to leave." Rude pulled Reno to a standing position and helped him walk to the door.

"Why?" Reno stumbled a little as he followed Rude to their bedroom.

"Eventually someone will notice they've gone missing. They'll blame us for the murders. All three of them. Considering the fact that I'm the only one left standing who actually killed anyone tonight it's probably not the best idea for us to stay here to long." Rude pushed his feelings aside and let his reasoning take over. Sorrow would come later.

"But what about Fay? We can't just leave her here! Not without saying good-bye!" Reno turned to go back but Rude stopped him.

"She's already gone to the lifestream Reno. There's nothing left to say good-bye to but a corpse. She wouldn't enjoy us saying goodbye anyways. No one ever truly leaves us Reno, the lifestream is in all of us, which means that the dead are always with us." Rude spoke with more conviction than he had.

Reno nodded and followed Rude to their room so they could grab their stuff and leave. Reno knew after tonight he wouldn't ever want to come back, for any reason. "Where are we going?"

"A hotel. We'll find someplace permanent tomorrow. Tonight we just need to clean up somewhere and go to sleep." Rude began shoving their belongings into bags.

Reno grabbed a duffel bag and followed suit a little more slowly. "Sounds good." He paused, "Rude?"

"Yeah Reno?" Rude paused his packing and looked at Reno.

"I'm sorry. If it weren't for me making us go to Corneo's this wouldn't have ever happened." Reno looked down at the floor and continued, "You were right Rude. It was stupid and optimistic. It was _wrong._"

"I still regret nothing, and I don't blame you. Corneo allowed us to give her a house worth living in. She wasn't stressed out, I had never seen her relax until we were able to make ends meet for her. It might have been optimistic to think that it would last forever, but it was definitely worth it. She's not in pain anymore Reno. She's never going to have to worry again." Rude began packing again.

Reno resumed packing. _I've lost two mother's now. _The thought struck him suddenly and caused another tear to drop from his eyes. He didn't know if he'd deserved either mother, but he knew they had deserved better than him.

The trip to the hotel was quiet. Reno followed Rude without hesitation, even when Rude went into a random gas station and made him wait outside. Reno simply did what he was told and tried to stay out of the way. He knew Rude was trying to figure things out and he didn't think he had the mental power to contribute anything helpful.

The hotel they stayed at was decrepit and only offered one bed per room. Most of the hotels in the slums could only afford a bed per room, beds were expensive and few people with the money to pay for a hotel room visited the slums. The room they rented out for the night was cold and smelt bad but it had running water and Reno really didn't care about much else. He had only recently begun to realize the fact that he was coated in blood and that most of it was his own. He had forgotten that his arm had been cut open and he peeled off his shirt to inspect the wound. It wasn't deep but now that he could see it he could feel pain from it.

Rude saw Reno messing with his arm and once he saw the blood still oozing gently from it he dragged him into the bathroom. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me you were hurt Reno?"

"I forgot about it." Reno answered honestly as Rude grabbed a towel from under the sink and began to wet it down. "I can clean it out in the shower Rude it'll be okay. It's not that bad."

Rude wrung out the towel, "Fine. Just don't forget to tell me that sort of thing ever again alright? I just lost my mom, I don't want to lose my best friend too."

"You won't lose me that easily." Reno smiled weakly before stepping into the shower.

"Reno you need to get undressed before you get in the shower." Rude sighed as he left the room.

"I'm not getting undressed with you in the room you'll see my junk!" Reno laughed lightly.

"Can't see what's not there." Rude sat down on the wooden chair in front of the small TV in their room.

Reno laughed as he began cleaning up. It didn't take long for him to get all the blood off and once he finished he dried off and walked into the main room. "Your turn."

Rude looked up and threw Reno a duffel bag. "Most of your clothes are in that one. Your toothbrush should be in there too."

"Thanks yo." Reno started digging through the bag for nightclothes while Rude went to shower. He couldn't understand how they could both act so normal after the horrific events the night had contained but he wasn't going to fight against the idea. Normalcy was something that sounded like heaven to him.

Once Reno got dressed Rude had finished in the shower and came out in his pajamas. Reno guessed he had been smart enough to take them in with him. He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth before crawling under the covers of their bed.

"Let me see that cut before you get too comfortable." Rude demanded as Reno adjusted himself.

"It's not that bad yo!" Reno stuck out his arm for Rude to see, "The bastard just grazed me. I've been hurt worse and we both know it."

"That doesn't mean I don't give a damn about it." Rude looked the cut over and poked it causing Reno to jump.

"What was that for?" Reno asked angrily.

"Shits and giggles." Rude chuckled as he got up to turn off the lights.

"Shits and giggles." Reno sighed, "You gotta be jokin' yo."

"Goodnight Reno." Rude sighed as he crawled under the covers.

"Goodnight Rude. You poke me while I'm asleep and I'll beat the shits and giggles right out of you." Reno smiled and went to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors Note: I know that I usually safe these things for the end but I don't feel like that today. I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter and the last one to post but I've been pretty busy preparing for finals and my AP is more work than it's worth sometimes. I've got a week of break coming up so I should be able to add more to this and to Am I Better Off? so don't think I'm ignoring my stories :) Now for my usual request, Read and review please!**

Reno struggled in his sleep as his mind began to torment him with thoughts of the night before. He was back in the bathroom watching Arty and Chase draw on the ceiling in Fay's blood. He moved to lash out at them, to kill them if he could but they turned on him and began to stab him with glee in their eyes. He screamed and thrashed to get away but no matter how hard he hit them they kept stabbing. He punched and bit and kicked but it didn't have any effect on the specters plunging their knives into his chest. He could almost feel the slicing pain as Arty pulled the knife down his chest, splitting him in two. He struggled and screamed and clawed but Chase held his arms down as Arty dragged the knife down through his stomach.

"Reno! Reno wake the fuck up dammit!" Reno heard the voice but it didn't register as he continued to thrash. "Dammit Reno wake up!"

Reno woke with a scream. He could feel a heavy weight on top of him and he immediately remembered the dream and tried to throw it off.

"Reno stop struggling dammit! I'm not going to hurt you!" Rude held Reno's arms against his sides and tried to hold him still.

"Rude?" Reno's voice was weak with fear as he struggled blindly.

"Yes you idiot! Who the hell else would be here?" Reno's eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and he saw Rude hovering above him panting as he worked to keep the red-head down.

Reno stopped struggling, "What'd I do?"

"You punched me in the face and then started trying to claw my heart out that's what you did!" Rude continued to hold Reno down, "Are you gonna attack me again if I let you up?"

Reno looked down and saw that he had ripped Rude's shirt and that there were scratches all along his friends chest and neck. There were even a few bite marks on his arms. "No."

Rude sighed and rolled off of Reno, lying on his side. "Nightmare?"

"Yeah." Reno shivered and continued to pant, the dream still fresh in his mind.

"What about?" Rude propped himself up on his elbow and looked Reno over.

Reno ran a hand over his face. "Chase and Arty."

"I'm guessing that's why you were trying to beat the shit out of me?" Rude smiled weakly.

"Yeah. I dreamt they were stabbing the shit outta me yo! It was freakin scary." Reno began to tremble as the vivid dream began to replay itself in his mind.

Rude grabbed Reno and pulled him into a tight hug as he felt his friend start to tremble violently, "It was just a dream Reno."

Reno buried his head in Rude's chest and took deep breaths to try and calm himself as Rude ran a soothing hand up and down his back. "I know yo. It was just so real! The knife looked the same, I could feel it when it went in!" Reno let out a choked sob.

Rude sighed and squeezed Reno tighter, "It'll be alright, I'd never let that happen."

Reno wrapped his arms around Rude and gave his friend a hug, "I know."

Rude held Reno as he felt him drift into sleep. He wished he could go do the same but now his mind was racing again. He had only just fallen asleep when Reno had begun to sleep-attack him. He heard Reno whimper with fear and he braced himself to hold his friend back if another nightmare came along. Reno pressed himself so hard into Rude's chest that he was fairly sure the red-head could feel his spine. He murmured words of comfort into Reno's ear as he laid awake waiting for sleep.

When morning finally came neither of them were well rested. Reno had continued to wake up frightened and Rude had never been able to get back to sleep. They both tried to act awake and happy for each other but they couldn't completely hide their exhaustion. They left the hotel quickly, anxious to get somewhere else.

Rude led the way again as they traveled through the slums. Reno stayed fairly quiet, a sure sign that he was still troubled about the dreams and the night before. Rude didn't mind the silence though, it allowed him to think. He tried not to let his mind drift to his mother by focusing it on finding somewhere safe for them to stay from now on. He looked back and saw that Reno was staring at the ground with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders slumped more than usual. He hadn't even made an attempt to smoke all day which was something that almost never happened.

"You alright Reno?" Rude questioned when they stopped their aimless wanderings to buy lunch.

"I'm fine." Reno toyed with his fork.

"Where do you think we should go?" Rude asked as he pushed his food around on his plate.

"I don't really care yo. We can find another hotel or we can try and rent an apartment or we could just claim squatters rights somewhere. Doesn't bother me a bit." Reno stabbed his food repeatedly as he talked.

"Let's try for an apartment somewhere." Rude pushed his barely touched food away and stood up.

"Sounds like a plan yo." Reno stabbed viciously at a piece of broccoli before following suit.

They wandered for a while more. Rude found one of the few actual apartment buildings in the slums and negotiated a price for it with the owner of the building. The room was furnished and had two bedrooms, something rather fancy in the slums. The main room wasn't large and it connected directly to an even smaller kitchen. Reno set his stuff into one room while Rude took another. The silence was starting to bother Reno but he didn't want to end it either. He was still shaken by the dreams he had had the night before and he was more than happy to let Rude make the decisions.

Rude walked into Reno's new room and sat on his bed, "Weird having your own room eh?"

"Yeah. Never have had one to myself before." Reno smiled and sat beside Rude, running his hand through his hair.

Rude leaned forward rested his chin on interlocked fingers. "I wanted to let you know, yesterday at the gas station I called the cops."

"Why?" Reno was surprised. "I thought you didn't want them involved!"

"We were long gone by then and I couldn't just let her sit until someone found her, it could have taken months. I didn't tell them our names but I did tell them what happened in there. I didn't say anything that would lead them back to either of us but I figured I should tell you in case someone puts two and two together." Rude sighed and closed his eyes, "I just couldn't have someone think it was a messed up prostitution thing."

Reno placed a hand on Rude's back, "I understand. I don't want that either. I was actually going to suggest we do that but I figured it would piss ya off."

Rude looked back at him and smiled, "Good thing we can always seem to read each others minds eh?"

Reno grinned form ear to ear, "Damn straight yo!"

They left for work later that night in a better mood, they weren't happy but they weren't so solemn anymore. They took their positions outside of the Honeybee Inn and were glad that the customers didn't expect them to be kind. Reno ignored most of the customers he usually sniped with and Rude was quieter than normal.

"Yo-yo boy! Corneo wants you!" Scotch called as he walked up to Reno.

"Yo-yo boy?" Rude snickered.

"It's cause he says 'yo' all the time. Think of it as a pet name from me and the boys." Scotch crossed his arms and glared at a few of the rowdier customers. "Get lost whackjobs! If you already been told you can't get in then stop trying!"

"Why's the boss want me?" Reno asked as he swapped spots with Scotch.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? Just get your ass up there before I kick it." Scotch leaned against the wall and pulled out a cigarette. "Got a light Rude?"

"How come he doesn't have a nickname?" Reno glared at Rude as he chuckled and handed Scotch the spare lighter he kept around for Reno.

"Because he scares the shit outta the boys so they don't wanna offend him." Scotch laughed as he lit up. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"I'm going I'm going!" Reno threw his hands up and ran in the direction of the mansion as a few customers cat-called and wolf-whistled behind him.

When Reno reached Corneo's room he stopped to catch his breath. He knew Corneo didn't like people panting all over the place when they were summoned inside, he only enjoyed panting when he caused it. He knocked once his breath was back and heard Corneo grant him entry. He pushed the door open with a smile, "What can I do for ya Don?"

"Come sit down Reno, we need to talk." Reno did as he was told and sprawled lazily on the chair he had used the first time he had entered the room.

"What's on your mind yo?" Reno threw Corneo a cocky grin.

"You're in trouble with some not so nice people Reno." Corneo sighed as he swirled his drink.

"What?" Reno sat up, suddenly alert. "Who has it out for me?"

"Someone I can't say no to." Corneo avoided looking at Reno as he took a sip of his drink.

"I haven't done anything! I haven't borrowed money or done drugs or any of that shit! Who are you taking about yo?" Reno stood up, waving his arms as he talked.

"Shinra." Reno heard the voice behind him but he was pinned face first against the desk before he had time to react.

"Sorry Reno. I really liked you, hoped that someday you'd be in the same league as Scotch. Guess that won't happen now." Corneo smiled and walked out of the room, "Don't rough him up to bad, he's valuable."

"What the hell do you want?" Reno's voice was muffled by the desk. He struggled to push himself up but his arms were forcefully wrenched behind him. "I didn't do anything!"

"You didn't have to do anything. It's been years that we've looked for you Reno. You hid surprisingly well. We probably wouldn't have found you if we hadn't seen a picture of you found at your friends house last night." Reno could hear the sneer in the mans voice. "The police turned it in thinking that the person who reported the murder might be related to the victim. You shouldn't have turned yourself in, we thought you were smarter than that."

"Guess I'm not so you'll have to look elsewhere for a new lackey eh?" Reno quipped into the desk.

"No Reno, it's part of the reason we want to hire you. It gives us a bit of leverage over you when we know what you care about. Last time Shinra got ahold of you you didn't give a damn about anything but your mommy and since she was out of the picture we couldn't hold anything against you. Now however, you've got a friend." The man pushed him harder into the desk.

"What the hell are you gonna do!?" Reno screamed and struggled harder against the hands holding him.

"It's to bad he fights most of your battles for you," The man breathed in his ear, "otherwise you'd be able to throw me off. We'll fix that though, don't worry."

"What are you gonna do!?" Reno screamed again, and then went limp, allowing his weight to slide him off the desk, dragging the man down with him. The second his body hit the ground he gathered his legs under him and launched himself out from under the man. He stood up and began to run towards the door only to be tackled from behind again. Reno rolled over trying to keep his hands free as they struggled on the floor.

"Get off me!" Reno screamed as he was slammed onto his back with his wrists pinned above his head.

"Not a chance!" The man panted, Reno could tell just by looking that this was not the same man he had met years before. This man was younger, his suit was black like his hair and he looked like he might be in his thirties.

"What are you gonna do?" Reno asked as he continued to try and buck the man off him.

"Give you incentive." The door opened and a few more men walked in. "Have you got him?"

"Yeah, we got him. The bastard came pretty quietly." Reno strained to get a look at the men in the doorway.

"The incentive has arrived Reno." The man smiled as Reno's eyes locked onto Rude, standing cuffed between two Soldiers.

"Rude!" Reno strained to get his hands free.

"Sorry Reno. They said they were going to kill you." Rude hung his head.

"What do you want?" Reno stopped struggling and looked the man on top of him in the eye.

"We want to make the same offer we did last time, except this time when you answer remember whose head we have a gun to." As if on cue one of the Soldiers holding Rude cocked his gun.

Reno strained his head back to look at Rude again, catching his eyes. Rude's face was expressionless and Reno sighed as he brought his head back to normal. "Fine. Whatever the fuck it is you want you can have it alright? Just don't hurt him."

"Good answer." The man pulled a pair of cuffs out of his suit and snapped them onto Reno's wrists. "You won't regret it."

He hauled Reno to his feet and led him out of the room by his wrists, signaling for the Soldiers to do the same with Rude. Reno glared at every person he passed and most of them looked away guiltily. Reno went slowly on purpose, intent on pissing off the man leading him. He didn't give a damn who he was or who he worked for, he just knew he was pissed and the only way he could safely show it was to be as difficult to handle as possible.


	9. Chapter 9

Reno did everything he could to slow down or piss off the man leading him. He dragged his feet, he said anything and everything that popped into his head, he made crude comments about what the man's mother must have looked like, he even briefly considered going completely limp so that the man would have to drag him. He figured that wouldn't be a good idea though as the man would probably shoot him and walk away if he pushed his luck too far so he stuck with the little things. During the car ride there he played with the electric windows and idly kicked the drivers seat from behind. The man stayed stony faced and stoic and Reno was close to begging him for a response. Reno wanted nothing more than to see that his efforts to annoy were working. The reactions were half the fun.

Rude stayed just as stoic as the man that was trying to put up with Reno. Rude felt a little bad for him as Reno complained about the tightness of his cuffs and then proceeded to make several comments about the man's mother, something Rude felt Reno should be sensitive about considering what had just happened to Rude's mother but then again, Reno had never been known for his tact. Rude wasn't even sure Reno knew what he was saying. He could tell it was making everyone in the car uncomfortable and he could sense that the Soldiers with him wanted nothing more than to be away from the scene Reno was making in the back seat. It almost made him laugh.

"Sir." One of the Soldiers addressed the man sitting with Reno.

"Yes?" Rude could see the man's pained expression in the rearview mirror in front of him.

"Can you shut him up?" Rude worked hard to keep his expression neutral as laughter bubbled in his chest.

"That's rude yo! Here I am tr-" Reno was only able to get half of his sentence out before the suited man elbowed him in the face, knocking him out cold. Rude whipped around and glared at the man as Reno slumped forward.

"That's better. We usually drag our less willing recruits in unconscious anyways." The man straightened his suit and met Rude's glare with an even gaze. "Do you have a problem with this?"

"Obviously." Rude turned around to face the front of the car and glared at the man through the rearview mirror.

"You'll live with it. It's better than what I've done before to recruits." The man grimaced slightly and gazed back at Rude through the mirror. Rude kept glaring at the man until the car stopped.

The first thing Rude noticed was the sunlight. He had never been above plate before and sunlight was usually dimmed in the slums. He squinted and tried to hide his discomfort as Reno was pulled out of the car by one of the Soldiers and flung unceremoniously over a shoulder. The dark haired man led them into the building silently and the going was faster this time as Reno wasn't purposefully slowing things down.

"New recruits there Tseng?" A fat man in green approached the suited man.

"Not for you Heidegger." Tseng sighed as Heidegger began to size up Reno and Rude.

"Veld wants them? I can't see much potential in the redhead for Soldier or the Turks. The bald one though, he might make a decent Soldier." Rude scowled as he was looked over like a piece of meat.

"They've got too much potential to waste in Soldier." Tseng tried to deter Heideggers attention as Rude shifted uncomfortably.

"Tseng you think too little of Soldier." Heidegger turned his gaze from Rude to the unconscious Reno.

"And you think to much of them." Tseng motioned for the group to continue walking.

"I'll be having a talk with Veld about this you know that right?" Heidegger laughed and Rude fought his natural urge to cringe at the grating sound as he was led into an elevator.

"Didn't you just get a boat full of new recruits from Costa Del Sol? I'm pretty sure you can make due without these two." Tseng allowed the elevator doors to shut in Heideggers face.

"Do you really not like Soldier sir?" The Soldier holding Reno asked tentatively.

"I'm fine with Soldier, I just don't like Heidegger." Tseng gave the boy a small smile as the elevator doors opened.

Tseng led them down a hallway and entered a spacious office. A small brunette sat at a desk and talked unenthusiastically into a telephone as she typed on a computer.

"Elise, is Veld in?" Tseng rapped his knuckles on the desk to get the attention of the brunette.

"One moment please," She spoke into the phone before putting down the receiver. "Sorry sir, what did you need?"

"Is Veld in?" Tseng was polite and Rude wondered which side of him was an act, the hostile side, or the polite one.

"Yes he is I'll let him know you're here." Elise simpered as she pushed a button on her desk. "Sir, Tseng's here." The door to the office opened and a somber man stood by to let them enter.

"It's safe to assume there were only a few problems?" Veld sat at his desk as Rude was steered into a chair across from him by Tseng.

"Yes." Tseng turned to the Soldiers, "You are dismissed. We can handle it from here." They stood at attention and clicked their heels together with a loud, "Sir!" Before departing.

"So why is he unconscious?" Veld leaned back in his chair.

Tseng sighed, "He's extremely annoying sir."

Veld laughed, "I thought you could handle annoying?"

"There is a breaking point sir." Tseng leaned on the back of the chair Reno was slumped in.

"I'm assuming you're Rude?" Veld turned his attention away from Tseng.

"Yes." Rude nodded. "Why are we here?"

"Straight to the point then. We want you two to be a part of the Turks." Veld folded his hands on his desk.

"Why us?" Rude sat straight as a board in his chair.

"We think you have potential. We've been after Reno for years now because of his speed and quick thinking and you've got enough brains and muscle to make it far as a Turk." Veld spoke with a smile.

Rude snorted lightly. "Quick thinking?"

Veld laughed, "Hard to believe I know but he's fast. He figured out exactly how to piss Tseng off and I haven't really got that down yet and I've been trying for years to figure out exactly how to do that. He managed to stab one of our Turks through the hand when he was about ten and that is a feat no matter how old you are."

"What happened to the man he stabbed?" Rude couldn't help but ask.

"He's dead now. The rust on the knife poisoned his blood." Veld spoke as if he explained things like this everyday.

Reno began to stir. "Whasfgheng?"

"Articulate isn't he?" Veld laughed, "How hard did you hit him Tseng?"

"Hard enough." Tseng frowned lightly.

Reno groaned and held his head in his hands. "Whathefu-?" He stopped as he stared through half lidded eyes at the office and then snapped his head up as a few wires in his brain clicked. "Where the hell am I?"

"Shinra." Rude grunted as he saw Tseng's hands tighten on the back of Reno's chair.

Reno scowled and rubbed his face, "Where's the bastard that hit me?"

"Behind you." Tseng growled and Reno turned around to glare at him.

"That was uncalled for yo!" Reno turned to Veld, "You his boss?"

"Yes I am." Veld was still smiling.

"You should teach him some manners yo." Reno slumped back in his chair.

"I think you'll be needing to learn some first." Tseng glowered down at Reno.

"I'm not the one hittin' people yo. My ma may not've taught me much but she did teach me not ta hit and ta play nicely." Reno smirked up at Tseng.

Tseng clenched his hands and Reno could see the whites of his knuckles. He smiled at Tseng's reaction which only incensed the other man more.

"Before we get into the 'your mom' jokes I suggest we get the business matters out of the way first yes?" Veld smiled and Reno whipped his head back around to face him so fast Rude was surprised it didn't hurt him.

"Come on yo I love a good 'your mom' joke! Besides your suit here already made me agree ta work here." Reno raised an eyebrow at Veld.

"Tseng may have made you agree to work here but we have a few formalities we need to get through." Veld smiled and Reno couldn't tell if he was being patronized or pitied.

"I'm assuming you can read Reno?" Tseng's sneering voice pissed Reno off.

"I can read yo! Being from the slums doesn't automatically make you a freakin' idiot alright?" Reno snarled, looking up at Tseng. "Yo, boss-man, can we get these frickin' cuffs off?" Reno snapped his head back towards Veld and Rude wondered again just how Reno could do that without getting whiplash.

"I think so. Tseng, if you would do the honors?" Veld missed the angry look Tseng shot at him as he began digging through his desk for papers.

"About time." Reno huffed as he rubbed his wrists.

"Thanks." Rude grunted as his cuffs were removed.

Reno stretched out in his chair, "So what formalities are you talking about boss-man?"

"It's Veld Reno." Veld lowered his eyebrows slightly as he slid the papers across the desk.

"Sorry Veld." Reno crossed his legs in front of him and rested laced his fingers behind his head.

"Forgiven." Veld replaced his warm smile as he began explaining the papers. "This is your contract, to be terminated upon your death only. You realize that you don't leave Shinra, ever. If you do manage to escape then all records that you ever existed are wiped to save the company the embarrassment and you're still hunted down. those who manage to get away never truly get away."

"Sounds a lot like Corneo's deal." Reno chuckled dryly.

"Corneo's deal is laid back compared to Shinra's." Tseng crossed his arms and stood beside Rude's chair.

"He's right. In Corneo's you at least had the luxury of death if you were caught doing something wrong. Here, we have much more practical and lasting methods of teaching you a lesson." Veld laced his fingers in front of him and gave them both a hard stare, all hints of a smile gone. "Trust me, you don't want to get in trouble here."

"Understood." Rude nodded.

"While you are employed here Shinra will cover a good portion of your living expenses. Power bills, water bills, housing in general is taken care of. Food and extra things you get to take care of yourself. Your pay is determined by your rank and your rank is determined by your skill level. The better you are the more you get paid, pretty simple." Veld replaced his warm smile. "We will train you, mostly Tseng and other the other Turks actually. I'm a bit too busy with paperwork to do much outside the office."

"Sounds like a plan yo." Reno finished signing the paper with a flick of his wrist and tossed the pen to Rude.

"Once you're done signing Tseng will get you two set up and introduce you to the other Turks." Veld smirked and added, "By the way, Tseng is going to make sure you get hell in training. You best learn to address him and anyone else above you in rank as sir or ma'am."

"Alrighty then." Reno gave Tseng a cocky grin and bowed mockingly, "After you ma'am."

Rude couldn't help but laugh as Tseng decked Reno in the back of the head as he passed. He could've sworn he saw Tseng smile too, but he shook it off as his imagination.

Tseng led them down the hallway as he began to explain how training was going to work. Reno only half-listened as they walked. He was busy marveling at the cleanliness of the building. A cleanliness that he knew he would have to fix or he would go crazy. Stark white was definitely not his favorite color scheme.

Tseng was thoroughly annoyed by the obnoxious red-head and he knew it would take some work to get used to him but he also knew the recruit had skill. Even if Reno hadn't noticed his natural skill it didn't escape Tseng. Tseng spent most of his missions looking for Soldier recruits so he had a good idea of what a capable person looked like and even though Reno was hell-bent on pissing him off he would make damn sure he reached his potential. Even if he had to beat the obnoxious right out of him.

Tseng was pleased with Rude though. The bald man was silent and attentive. He knew Reno wasn't listening to a word he said but he also knew that Rude would fill him in on things the second he got the chance. Tseng could tell that if he pointed Rude in the right direction he wouldn't have to worry about the job getting done.

Tseng led them into the gym where several Turks were working out. Once he walked in all motion ceased and everyone stopped their workouts to meet the new recruits. Reno surveyed the room and its occupants openly while Rude did the same.

"Who're the newbs Tseng?" A spiky haired brunette asked as he wiped his hands off on his shorts.

"They're Reno and Rude. Feel free to introduce yourselves before we start breaking our beginners in." Tseng walked off to what Reno assumed was a changing room as several Turks walked in to introduce themselves.

"I'm Jareth. It's been a while since we've had fresh meat. I'm just glad I don't have to be called a rookie anymore." The brunette smiled widely and stuck out a hand to Rude. Rude shook it firmly and then shoved his hands back in his pockets while Jareth offered his hand to Reno.

"You're still gonna be a rookie Jareth." A girl with long gray hair said as she slapped Jareth playfully on the shoulder before throwing Reno a grin. "I'm Nasira. pleased to meet you two. Which one of you pissed off Tseng? He's usually not so eager to beat on the rookies."

Reno gave her a salute, "That would be me doll."

"Cocky as hell aren't you?" Jareth laughed, "I'd never have the balls to piss off the commander or to call Nasira anything but Nasira."

"He hasn't learned that Nasira will rip the balls off anything that looks at her cross-eyed yet." A man with jet black hair and a square jaw laughed as he clapped Rude on the shoulder. "You friend is gonna become good friends with pain if he doesn't learn to keep his tongue in his head."

"He and pain are already pretty good friends. They make sure to have a weekly visit." Rude smiled as he shook hands.

"Good thing I can't go cross-eyed then isn't it?" Reno gave a cheeky grin as he demonstrated his inability to cross his eyes.

"I like you, you're a smart ass. Names Gareth, welcome to the group of men who love to piss off Nasira and Ellie." A man with a large black tattoo on his face threw an arm around Nasira's shoulders as he spoke. She shoved him off quickly.

"My name is Eliza, not Ellie! How many times do I have to say that?" A woman with long sandy blonde hair punched Gareth in the stomach as she spoke. "Don't listen to Gareth, he'll get you in trouble."

"I think he can find trouble without Gareth's help." Tseng had changed into shorts and a t-shirt and the second he walked in the room went quiet.

"Ya know, I have never seen a room get quiet so fast. Yo are you a total buzz-kill or somethin' Tseng?" Reno placed his hands on his hips and Rude face-palmed.

"You'll learn soon enough." Tseng smiled wickedly and Reno felt his confidence slide just a little. "We'll finish introductions later. There's too many of you to do so efficiently now. I'll get these two something to wear during their workout session today and then we'll get started." Tseng motioned with his hand for them to follow. Rude complied immediately and Reno huffed and shoved his hands into his pockets before following.

Tseng led them into what Reno had thought was a changing room. To his surprise it was also a sauna, a shower room, a bathroom, and a locker room. And it was obvious that this one was for men and Reno wondered if the women's room was the same. He decided he'd have to sneak in later and find out.

Tseng led them down a row of lockers until they reached two on the end labeled with their names. Reno pulled clothes out of the locker and noticed they were all his size. "I'm pretty sure you weren't gonna give us a chance to say no were ya? How the hell did ya get my shirt size?"

"No, you would have eventually said yes. We can be persuasive as hell when we want to be. As for the clothes, we guessed." Reno was doubtful that they could have guessed their sizes so perfectly.

They got changed, Reno just stripping and throwing on the new clothes, Rude choosing the more modest way by changing in a stall. Once they were done, Tseng slightly unnerved by Reno's brazen behavior, they went back to the gym room where everyone was gathered around a ring in the middle of the room.

"So how we gonna do this yo?" Reno asked as he cracked his knuckles with a smirk.

"You're going to get in the ring, fight whoever I send at you, get your ass kicked, and hopefully learn a lesson about respect for your comrades. That's what you're going to do." Tseng pushed Reno into the ring as he talked.

"Jeez what the hell's gonna happen to Rude then?" Reno stretched his back and almost laughed at the grimace on Ellie's face as it made several cracking noises. He was going to have fun making that noise around her later.

"Rude gets to laugh his ass off at you for a while and then he gets similar treatment, except he probably won't have to learn as much as you will." Tseng grinned as he spoke, earning an eye-roll from Reno.

"Harsh yo!" Reno stuck his tongue out at Tseng.

"You just keep proving my point Reno." Tseng shook his head. "Brandon, get up there."

A man with black hair and glasses climbed into the ring obediently and Reno grinned happily. He loved a good fight and he hadn't had a decent brawl in a while. The last time he had fought with anyone before his earlier scuffle with Tseng was when he had insulted Rude's lack of hair. He made a personal memo to himself later that if he should ever feel the urge to do so again he should be out of reach and preferably out of the room altogether. He also noted that 'chrome dome' was not going to be Rude's nickname, no matter how much he wanted it to be.

Reno took up his fighting stance and barely had time to dodge the first kick that was sent his way. He quickly got into his fighting groove as he had to dodge blow after blow and he soon became confident enough to counter with a few of his own. Reno's smile got wider and wider as they struggled to hit each other and he noticed that Brandon was starting to sweat while he was still feeling good and dry. After a while he decided he should probably figure out how to end this soon or he wouldn't have any energy left to fight anyone else. He dodged a powerful kick aimed at his face and then swept Brandon's other leg out from under him, causing Brandon to fall on his back. Reno placed his knee in Brandon's chest and fought to pin his arms down. He grunted as one of Brandon's flailing legs hit him in the back of the head and then gagged as the other hooked around his throat and forced him down to the floor. He rolled to get free of the hold Brandon's flexible legs had on his neck and found that he was effectively pinned down. Whichever way he thrashed his throat met resistance and he soon gave up.

"That's enough Brandon, you can let him breath now." Reno could hear the laughter in Tseng's all too smug voice.

"Yes sir." Brandon released a gasping and sputtering Reno and went too retrieve the glasses that Reno had so cheekily pulled off his face earlier. Reno had at least had the sense to throw them to the side of the ring where they wouldn't be stepped on.

Reno sat up, massaging his neck and regaining his breathing. "Pride comes before the fall Reno." Tseng stood on the side of the ring with his arms folded.

"Pride can come along for the ride yo. I'm pretty sure pride is enough of an adrenaline junkie that the fall would make him happy." Reno stood back up and rolled his neck.

"Nasira, would you like to get him back for calling you a doll? Tseng smirked.

"Sounds fun." Nasira grinned as she climbed into the ring.

"Bring it on babe!" Reno grinned as he took his stance again.

"Gareth's right, you are a cocky bastard." Nasira grinned, "Don't worry, we can fix that."

"I've heard that before and I'm pretty sure I'll hear it again. You guys just love finding things to fix yo." Reno's smile got wider as she took her stance across from him.

Nasira grinned and began bouncing on the balls of her feet as she circled Reno. He walked almost lazily around her as she circled. She threw a punch and he ducked it easily, laughing as he did. He saw anger cross her features as she started throwing punches, desperate to land one on him. "Slippery bastard!" She yelled as Reno dodged a well aimed kick and blew a raspberry. Her next kick caught him in the side and he felt the air rush out of his lungs as he staggered. She took advantage of his momentary weakness and landed another three punches on him. He threw a hand out to catch her wrist but instead caught hair. He pulled and she swung around with a small pained cry. He put her in a sleeper hold and she reached her hands up to scratch at his arms and face.

"Give?" He panted as he struggled to keep his hold.

"Never!" Nasira gasped as she grabbed a handful of Reno's hair and pulled.

"That don't work babe. I've had enough people pull my hair that it don't hurt anymore." Reno grinned as he felt a few hairs part painlessly with his scalp.

She struggled for a while longer, scratching long lines in Reno's face and arm as she did. Tseng finally called for an end. "You're done Nasira. Let her go Reno."

"Sure thing." Reno quickly let go and straightened his pony tail, noting with distaste that several bright red hairs were caught in Nasira's fingers. Nasira fell on all fours and gasped for air. "You okay?" Reno asked as he moved to help her up.

"Just peachy." She growled, shunning his help and clambering out of the ring.

"Matt, show him how it's done." Tseng retained his stoic expression as he watched Nasira rub her throat beside him. He hadn't expected Reno to win and had been looking forward to watching the red-head have his ass handed to him again.

The Turk with black hair and a square jaw sauntered into the ring. Reno gulped, Matt was twice his size and could easily break him in half and use him to stir his coffee.

"No offense Reno, but I plan on kicking your ass." Matt laughed, "I haven't got much hair for you to pull so you're going to have to try something else."

"I'm not above kneeing ya in the nards yo." Reno panted and laughed as he wiped off the small layer of sweat building on his brow.

"That's what a cup is for numb-nuts." Matt laughed cracked his knuckles, which caused Ellie to grimace again. A sight Reno decided he greatly enjoyed.

"I'll figure something out." Reno smirked and took up his fighting stance weakly.

"There's no chance in hell you're going to beat me Reno." Matt teased as he circled.

"Good thing we aren't in hell then." Reno grinned as he threw all his force into a kick.

Matt caught Reno's foot and pulled up, causing Reno to loose his balance and fall flat on his back. Reno rolled and got to his feet quickly but Matt still managed to snag his arm and pull him into a hold similar to what he had used on Nasira. Reno went limp and let all his weight rest in Matt's arms which threw him off balance. Reno then threw his legs back and kicked Matt in the shins as he fell. Matt landed on top of Reno and ground his face into the matt, earning a muffled stream of curses from Reno as he struggled to get out from under the larger man.

"Give rookie?" Matt taunted as he pushed Reno's face deeper into the matt.

"Fshnigndgarbnargin!" Reno continued his unrelenting stream of curses into the matt.

"I'll take that as a no." Matt laughed and pulled Reno's arm behind his back.

"Augh! I give dammit! Don't you listen?" Reno screamed as his face was freed from the matt.

"Sorry pal, sounded like gibberish to me." Matt got off of Reno and laughed as he helped the red-head up.

"Everything is going to sound like gibberish when there's about fifty colorful swears thrown in." Tseng chuckled as Reno leaned against the edge of the ring and panted.

"Yo that swearing was frickin' necessary yo! I couldn't breathe!" Reno leaned his face against the pole holding up the rope barrier that surrounded the ring.

"That was the point." Matt laughed as he sauntered out of the ring.

"Who's next?" Reno gasped as he stood up and stretched with his hands above his head.

"You haven't had enough yet?" Tseng raised an eyebrow. He had expected Reno to give up, not ask for more punishment.

"Course not, that would make your day." Reno laughed shakily as he regained his breath.

"Alright then. Gareth, get in there." Tseng kept his face neutral but inside he was beaming as he watched Reno struggle to breathe. He enjoyed every minute of the payback he was having his Turks inflict for him. Reno would learn not to talk about his mother that way.

**Authors Note: Heehee, yay Reno getting beat up! I love writing fight scenes, they're just fun. Make me feel like I'm actually doing something. Read and review if you please!**


	10. Chapter 10

Reno was sore. His entire body ached and he bit back a groan as he settled himself into bed as comfortably as he could. He had fought every Turk except Tseng and his last fight had been against Rude, something he hadn't enjoyed. He had only been able to win the fight against Nasira and he had held his own for most of the others but in essence, his ass was truly and thoroughly kicked. Rude hadn't done much better, but he had at least been able to hold his own against Matt for more than five seconds and hadn't been shoved face-first into the matt quite as hard.

After the fighting had ended he and Rude had been given their uniforms and shown to their apartments. Reno had no clue where Rude's was but he figured it couldn't be too far away. He stared at his blank white ceiling and sighed. The white that Shinra seemed so fond of was starting to anger him and he decided that his first paycheck was going to go towards red paint. Lots of it.

He tossed and turned for a while, to tense and sore to sleep. He laughed as he realized that this morning he and Rude had gotten an apartment and it was his first time in his own room, and now he had an apartment all to himself. Tseng had sent someone down to the slums to get their stuff and Reno had thrown it all in a pile near the door to his bedroom. He silently rejoiced at his first mess in the place and determined that it would take several more for him to feel truly comfortable.

He sat up after an hour of trying to sleep. He had never slept in a room so quiet and the silence bothered him. He could sleep through a train wreck but he couldn't sleep when it was quiet. He winced his way to a standing position and walked out of his apartment. He figured that Rude's apartment would be nearby and he would knock on doors until he found the right one.

He started with the apartment next to his and knocked loudly. After pressing his ear to the door and listening to the sounds coming from the room he determined that that was most definitely not Rude's apartment and walked away blushing slightly. He knocked on the next door and grinned as he saw a light flick on. His smile faltered a little as he saw Gareth open the door.

"What's up Reno?" Gareth leaned against the doorframe and rubbed his eyes.

"Lookin' for Rude." Reno shrugged.

"His room's on another floor Reno. You probably should be sleeping you know that?" Gareth yawned.

"I can't." Reno shrugged again.

"Too tired to sleep or something?" Gareth laughed and opened his door wider, beckoning for Reno to come in.

"Somethin' like that yo." Reno laughed and went in, Gareth shutting the door behind him.

"I did the same thing when I came here. Just started knocking on random doors. I wasn't looking for anyone in particular though, I just wanted to piss someone off." Gareth grinned and led Reno into his kitchen. "Need a drink?"

"I'm fine." Reno dismissed the offer with a wave of his hand. "Why were you trying to piss people off?"

"For shits and giggles." Gareth threw him a wide grin as he shoved a glass of water in front of him. "Drink up you look like shit right now."

"I don't think water'll fix that yo." Reno grinned and drank anyways, "Bourbon might work better."

Gareth laughed, "Drinking is for Friday night Reno. You go into work with a hangover this early on and Tseng will flay you alive. Hell you might not even have to go in hungover you might just have to show up." Gareth laughed harder, "I have worked here for years and I've never seen the commander so eager to watch someone get his face pounded."

"How the hell could you tell? That man's face is as blank and lifeless as the wallpaper in my room." Reno laughed and drained his glass, Gareth filled it again and got a glass for himself.

"He barely even gave you a breather between rounds Reno. You notice he let Rude have more than three seconds to catch his breath." Gareth lifted his glass in a mock toast, "To getting your ass kicked."

Reno laughed and clinked his glass against Gareth's as they 'toasted'. "I'm just hoping I don't have to do that again tomorrow. By the way, can you teach me that kick thing you did to my face?"

"Sure thing. Might have to find a different face to show you on though." Gareth chuckled and drained his glass.

Reno laughed, "So what's up with Nasira yo? She seems pretty damned pissy."

"She is pissy. But she's hot as hell so she can get away with it." Gareth winked, "FYI: I tried tapping that once, don't even go there. I'm lucky I escaped with only bruises."

"Ooooh bruises, kinky." Reno stretched his back out and winced.

"Not really." Gareth moved to stand behind him, "You're sore as hell aren't you?"

"Hell is an understatement." Reno chuckled and winced as he tried to stretch out his tired muscles.

"I can fix that." Gareth laughed and placed his hands on Reno's shoulders, making him jump.

"The hell?" Reno started to turn around but Gareth stopped him.

"Sit still this'll help I promise. Matt did it for me my first day. It will definitely make you feel better." Gareth began to pull and press his hands into Reno's sore muscles.

"Promise?" Reno grunted.

"Promise. Now sit still." Reno did as he was told and let Gareth rub the kinks out of his back.

"By Shiva!" Reno moaned and hung his head as he felt Gareth skillfully unknot his back.

"Told you didn't I?" Gareth laughed and pushed harder, earning another moan from Reno.

"Hmph, how did you get so good at this?" Reno's voice was slightly muffled by his shirt as his head dipped lower.

"It works wonders on the ladies. Unless that lady is named Nasira. Then you need to be wearing a suit of armor if you want to try something like this." Gareth laughed.

"I'm guessing she's just a bitch all around?" Reno asked as Gareth moved his hands lower.

"Yep, she's the biggest bitch we've got but she's also one of the most skilled. She was taking it easy on you Reno, you have no idea how lucky you were to even lay a hand on her. That's a pretty good sign that she likes you. If I remember correctly she knocked me out in about three seconds the first time I fought her." Gareth continued to chuckle at Reno's poorly muffled moans.

"Good to know she only tried to rip my head off because she likes me." Reno jumped suddenly, "Don't do that it tickles!"

"You shouldn't have told me that, you're gonna get it now!" Gareth began to tickle Reno mercilessly.

Reno tried to push Gareth's hands off him as he twisted around to stop the onslaught. He laughed as Gareth continued to poke and prod him while he slapped at his hands. Reno yelped as Gareth brushed a particularly sensitive spot on his waist and he fell off his chair, pulling Gareth down with him. They landed in a laughing heap, Reno pressed into the floor as Gareth continued to tickle him.

"I give I give stop stop!" Reno cried out as he gasped for breath.

"If you give stop hitting me!" Gareth pinned Reno's arms above his head and laughed.

Reno laughed and blushed lightly as he noticed the position they were now in. "Topping already are we?"

Gareth laughed and let him up, "Only if you like that."

Reno laughed nervously and sat up. "Maybe some other time yo, I don't think I'd be a very good lay right now."

Gareth laughed and helped Reno stand up, "Feel better?"

"Yup, thanks yo." Reno straightened his clothes. "I think I have a beefy bald best friend to pester now. Any idea where he is?"

"Next floor up, room 148. How long you two known each other?" Gareth grinned and led Reno to the door.

"I honestly don't know. I'm not even sure how old I am to be honest. It's been years though, I've know him since my ma died." Reno ran a hand through his hair.

"You don't know how old you are? You don't even have a rough guess?" Gareth raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I've got a guess but I'm not sure yo. I know I'm not older than twenty though 'cause Rude's older than me and he's only eighteen." Reno shrugged as Gareth opened the door.

"You're probably about seventeen or eighteen then. Veld probably knows or at least has a better guess. How do you know Rude is older than you if you don't know how old you are?" Gareth asked from the doorway as Reno began walking towards the stairs.

"No idea, I just know." Reno saluted and walked up the stairs three at a time.

When he reached room 148 he pounded on the door. He saw a light flick on and he grinned delightedly as he saw a shadow under the doorframe. He almost squealed with happiness as Rude opened the door.

"I figured you'd find your way up here eventually." Rude smiled as he opened the door.

"I woulda been here sooner but I knocked on random doors and got caught up talkin' ta Gareth." Reno grinned delightedly as he entered Rude's apartment.

"He seemed like a good guy. I especially like the nice bruise he left on your face." Rude smirked and poked the bruise that was swelling just above Reno's eyebrow.

"Ow! Knock it off yo! He said he'd teach me that kick thing anyways." Reno grinned and flopped onto Rude's couch. "I couldn't sleep."

"I figured you wouldn't be able too. I can't either, too damned sore." Rude rolled his shoulders and sat down beside Reno.

"I can fix that!" Reno grinned and dug his fingers into Rude's shoulders.

"The hell?" Rude jumped and started to turn around but Reno stopped him.

"Sit still this'll help I promise." Reno grinned from ear to ear as he pressed into Rude's shoulder.

"Promise?" Rude looked at Reno over his shoulder.

"Well I can't exactly guarantee since I've never done this before but I know it feels damned amazing when it's done right." Reno tried to mimic the movements Gareth had made on his own back minutes before.

"So far so good. I'm guessing Gareth did this for you?" Rude chuckled dryly.

"Yep, hopefully I learned a thing or two from that. Sit still and shut-up yo, you're moving to much." Reno pulled at Rude's tired muscles and laughed as Rude groaned lightly and slumped forward.

**Authors Note: Yup, massages. How manly of them XD I know this chapter is super short compared to the last one but oh well, at least it's up right? the last chapter was almost ridiculous long. Read and review please! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

Rude woke up the next morning tired and sore. He and Reno had stayed up far too late talking about what had happened that day and he regretted it, but only a little. He sat up to find that he hadn't even bothered to get into bed and had just fallen asleep on the couch. He was pleased to note that his muscles weren't sore and he mentally tipped his hat to Gareth for teaching Reno how to pull the kinks out of his back. Rude lowered his feet to the floor and stepped on something squishy. He immediately yanked his feet back onto the couch as Reno grunted and rolled over, kicking absently in his sleep. Rude smiled and placed his feet in the now empty space. He grabbed Reno's shoulder and shook it gently and barely ducked a fist aimed for his face. He swore loudly and held Reno's wrists in his hand. "What the hell Reno!" Reno's eyes snapped open as he struggled against Rude's hold. He stared at Rude and then stopped moving. Rude watched and almost saw the cogs in Reno's sleep fogged brain fitting together.

"What'd I do?" Reno asked as he saw the anger and concern in Rude's eyes.

"Tried to knock me out that's what." Rude let go of Reno's hands and sat back on the couch.

"I'm sorry." Reno sat up and buried his head in his hands.

"Another nightmare?" Rude felt his anger dissipate as he watched Reno shake on the floor.

"Same nightmare actually." Reno laughed nervously. "You have any bad dreams about that?"

Rude sighed and stared at his hands, "Yeah, I do."

"Wanna tell me about it?" Reno got up and sat on the couch.

"It was horrible." Rude held his hands in front of him as if they were something he had never seen before. "In the dream my hands were soaked in their blood. All three of them. I couldn't get it off and everything I touched got covered in blood but no one else noticed. I tried to tell you about it but you just laughed and then you stabbed me and ran away."

"I stabbed you and ran away? Hell Rude if I had the guts to stab you I'd at least stick around to make sure someone knew it was me!" Reno laughed and threw and arm around Rude's shoulder. "Why do you dream about your hands being coated in blood?"

"Because I killed them Reno!" Rude stood up and clenched his fists. "It's my fault they're dead!"

"Chase and Arty deserved it Rude and if you hadn't killed them I would've!" Reno stood up and put a hand on Rude's shoulder.

"Fay didn't deserve it." Rude's fists were clenched so tightly Reno could see the white of his knuckles.

"How the hell is Fay's death your fault!? If anyone is to blame it's me! I made you work at Corneo's, I got us involved with Chase and Arty in the first place, hell it's my fault we're here!" Reno sighed. "There's no way in hell it's your fault."

Rude turned to face Reno. "You want me to blame you?"

"Yo if you're gonna blame anyone it should be me. Chase and Arty may have killed her but if it wasn't for me making you work at Corneo's she'd still be alive." Reno pulled his hand off Rude's shoulder.

_ But I'd still be getting raped by Corneo everyday._ Rude sighed and decided to keep that thought to himself. "Reno, it's pointless to blame anyone."

"It might be pointless, but it's gonna happen yo." Reno crossed his arms in front of his chest with a sigh.

"We should go get ready for today's training." Rude gave Reno a weak smile. "We shouldn't worry to much about this stuff."

"You just can't wait to see me get my ass kicked can you?" Reno laughed and went towards the door.

"I'm not doing much better Reno." Rude chuckled.

"Yeah but Tseng actually likes you." Reno paused at the door, "Ya know, I think he's trying to beat some sense into me." Reno grinned.

"Many have tried and all have failed." Rude grinned back.

"I'll make sure he does too." Reno opened the door and left.

_Just make sure you don't get killed trying to piss him off. _Rude shook his head as he went to take a shower.

Tseng tapped his foot impatiently as Reno fell to the floor yet again. "Are you even trying?"

Reno stood up and brushed himself off. "Of course I'm trying yo! I'm not a fucking monkey alright? I can't climb that fucking rope first try."

"This is your fiftieth try Reno." Tseng huffed angrily as Reno grabbed onto the rope again.

"Well once I reach a hundred you should let me know." Reno grinned as he began pulling himself up the rope. Tseng had told him that in the next month they would have him strong enough to get to the top and he planned to make it there within the week. Just so he could shove it in Tseng's face. At the moment though he was looking like a fool as he scrambled up the rope as fast as he could.

"It's not about speed Reno." Tseng sighed as Reno fell again.

Reno panted and stayed on the floor, glaring at the rope. "If I can get enough momentum going I can make it." He knew if he could just move a little faster he would be at the top already.

"And if you build your arm muscles up enough you can go faster." Tseng stared down at Reno before prodding his arm with his shoe. "At the moment these little twigs aren't going to do you any good."

"Shove off yo! My arms are not twigs!" Reno snapped as he sat back up, batting Tseng's shoe away with his hand.

"Are too!" Reno heard Rude yell from across the gym.

"Shut up yo! I don't see you climbing this thing!" Reno yelled back.

"That's because Rude needs a different type of training than you do Reno. You focus on speed, Rude focuses on brute force. We have to work with you differently." Tseng rolled his eyes as he heard Rude laugh from across the room.

"And climbing this rope if gonna make me faster eh? I think you just like giving me rope burn yo." Reno huffed as he stood back up and grabbed the rope again.

"If you would admit defeat and let me work with you on something else you wouldn't have rope burns." Tseng sighed as Reno began pulling himself up the rope again.

"And if I listened to you you would be a happy camper." Reno grunted as he struggled up the rope, "Not part of my plan boss."

"You torturing yourself doesn't hurt me in the slightest Reno." Tseng frowned as Reno's ascent started to slow.

"Yo that frown is telling me different things Mr. Denial." Reno panted as sweat dripped down his face.

"How did you know I was frowning?" Tseng blurted before he could stop himself.

"Because I can hear it in your voice yo." Reno grinned as he got higher on the rope.

Tseng huffed, "This is the part where you fall every time."

"I'm not going to fall this time!" Reno growled as he struggled to put one hand over the other.

"Hey Nasira! I bet you ten bucks the rookie falls again." Reno growled as he heard Gareth's laughing voice.

"No thanks. I already know he's going to." Nasira laughed back.

"Shut up guys!" Reno snapped. "I can make it!"

"No you can't!" Gareth laughed. "You're going to hurt like hell when you fall again."

"Why the hell do I have an ass if I'm not going to fall on it?" Reno laughed as he saw the top of the rope come into view. It was only a twenty foot rope but to Reno if felt like it was miles long.

"Give the rookie a break Gareth. If I recall correctly you fell after about five feet." Reno grinned as he heard Matt come to his defense.

Reno moved to put his left arm higher on the rope and realized he couldn't move. He panicked and tried to let go but found that his hands had a death grip on the rope and refused to follow his commands.

"What's the matter Reno?" Tseng sounded annoyed.

"I can't move!" Reno called back in a panicked tone.

"What do you mean you can't move?" Tseng tried not to laugh.

"I mean I can't fucking move!" Reno was starting to freak out and Tseng could tell.

"Let go of the rope Reno." Tseng sighed and crossed his arms.

"I can't! My hands won't move!" Reno's body shook violently.

Tseng sighed angrily. "You _would_ get stuck. Didn't I tell you you couldn't make it?"

"Just get me down!" Reno could feel panicked tears creeping out the corners of his eyes.

"Alright." Tseng huffed and grabbed the bottom of the rope.

"What are you gonna do?" Reno tried to control his panicked breathing as he felt the rope move.

"Shake you off." Tseng stated matter-of-factly as he began to pull on the rope.

"Hurry up and do it then!" Reno felt the rope begin to move back and forth.

"Calm down." Tseng rolled his eyes as he shook the rope harder.

Reno felt himself swing along with the rope and didn't feel his hands loosen at all. "It's not working!"

Tseng sighed, "Who wants to go up and get him?"

"Not it!" Jareth laughed.

"Me neither." Eliza quickly distanced herself from the group.

"I nominate Gareth." Matt laughed.

"Why me!?" Gareth whined.

"Because if he doesn't fall somehow you loose your bet with Nasira." Matt pushed Gareth towards the rope.

"But she didn't agree to it!' Gareth protested.

"I'm agreeing now." Nasira laughed, "Either he falls or you owe me ten bucks."

"Dammit." Gareth sighed before grabbing the rope. "Hang tight red."

"I don't _want_ to be hanging on! That's the issue jack ass!" Reno growled as he heard laughter below him.

"Shut up and don't fall on me alright?" Gareth grunted as he pulled himself closer to Reno.

"Yo if I could fall on you I would but my arms have different ideas." Reno growled.

Gareth laughed as he reached Reno. "You would manage to make a fool of yourself wouldn't you?"

"Shut up and get me down." Reno frowned as his arms and legs shook violently.

Gareth grabbed Reno's leg and pulled. Reno's leg remained firmly wrapped around the rope as Gareth pulled himself up with it. "Jeez Reno talk about a death grip."

"Watch where you're puttin' your hands yo!" Reno growled as Gareth climbed higher.

Gareth chuckled, "This is why we listen when Tseng says to stop."

"Just get me down!" Reno growled angrily as Gareth started to pry his fingers apart.

"Ya know Reno, if you were gripping any tighter I'd have to break your fingers to get you off. You need to trust Tseng. He knows what he's doing alright?" Gareth loosed one of Reno's hands and moved to the other one. "You're gonna drop like a rock rookie." Gareth chuckled.

"I don't care I just want down!" Reno whimpered.

"Your wish is my command red." Gareth grinned and pulled Reno's hand off the rope and pushed him off before climbing down.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Reno hit the ground with a thud. "Fuck that hurt!"

"Serves you right." Tseng said as he hovered over Reno.

"I still can't move." Reno whimpered as he tried to flex his arms.

"Give it a minute, you just over exerted yourself." Tseng frowned.

Reno frowned as Tseng walked away, "Yo you're just gonna leave me here?"

"I can't exactly do much for you and even if I could I wouldn't. You need to learn a lesson here. If you had listened to me instead of trying to prove something you wouldn't be laying on the floor whining." Tseng frowned before walking away.

Gareth slipped down the rope. "You're gonna hurt like hell tomorrow Reno."

"Tell me something I don't know." Reno grimaced as he moved his fingers gently.

"Rope burn?" Gareth squatted down beside Reno.

"I think so." Reno whimpered as he began to extend his legs.

Gareth sighed and shook his head. "He's not gonna take it easy on you once you can get up. He's going to train you, rope burn or not."

"I know I can handle it." Reno huffed.

Gareth frowned, "I hope you're right 'cause if you continue like this you're gonna get yourself killed. Don't think I'm just saying this, my best friend went out this way. Didn't want to listen to anybody, refused to take orders seriously and he thought he could do everything by himself and didn't need help. Wanna know what happened to him?"

"What?" Reno asked.

"We were on mission, a fairly fucking simple mission at that. One we all should have walked away from. But he didn't follow orders and got himself shot. Had he done what Tseng had said like the rest of us, he would be here right now." Gareth stared at Reno before shaking his head and pushing Reno's arms down.

Reno cried out in pain, "What the hell yo!"

"You look so damned pathetic laying with your arms and legs in the air." Gareth shoved Reno's legs down, earning another pained yelp from Reno.

Reno sat up gingerly, every muscle in his body protesting the movement, "You have no idea how much that hurts yo!"

"You think you're the first one to overdo it?" Gareth laughed. "Reno every single one of us has been in the position where we've tried too hard. You just managed to reach that level earlier than most."

"I'm not going to give up on anything. I'm gonna be the best damned Turk you'll ever see." Reno groaned as he flexed his arms and legs.

Gareth reached over and ruffled Reno's hair, "Follow orders and you will be."

Reno rearranged his hair with a huff as Gareth walked away. He looked across the gym to see Rude sparring with Matt and he smiled as Rude was thrown to the floor.

"Come on Reno, get off the floor." Tseng stood in front of him with his arms folded.

"Sure thing boss." Reno gave a sloppy salute and slowly got off the floor. _Might as well start following orders now then._

"Let's go start what we should have started an hour ago." Tseng beckoned him with a flick of his head before walking towards a small ring in the corner of the gym. Tseng heard Reno whine pathetically as his cramping muscles tried to buckle under him. He shook his head and continued walking. "You sure picked a good way to break yourself in Reno. I hope you don't make this a habit."

"Well boss, if you knew anything about me you'd know I'm a creature of habit." Reno chuckled and forced his tired body to follow Tseng.

Rude sighed as he watched Brandon throw Reno to the floor over and over again. Tseng was trying to tell Reno what to do and he seemed to be making at least some effort to obey but he had worn himself out trying to climb that damned rope and he really didn't have a chance in hell to beat Brandon at anything. Hell Reno wasn't even able to stand up straight anymore. He was almost bent double while he was listening to Tseng after he picked himself off the floor and Rude could see the blood flowing from the blisters on his hands. Tseng had told Reno that he should hit the shower and give up hours ago and continued to suggest that he stop but Reno was too damn stubborn to leave. Matt and Rude had stopped sparring a long time ago and now they were just waiting for Reno to drop.

"Reno you need to keep your elbows in." Tseng was leaning against the ropes as he directed the fight.

"Sir can we stop? He's bleeding all over the place." Brandon grimaced at the small red stains that were on his shirt where Reno had hit him, "This shirt is toast as it is."

"No! I need to get this down." Reno panted as he leaned against the ropes.

"You can learn more tomorrow Reno. Enthusiasm is good to a point and you passed that point a few hours ago. Fact is you can barely stand anymore and you've got rope burns all over you and you're starting to bleed all over the place." Tseng rubbed his temples as he resisted the urge to order Matt to throw the rookie into the shower room as blood dripped onto the mat.

"But," Reno panted as he tried to stand up straighter, "I can do it Tseng!"

"Reno." Rude grunted.

Reno looked at his friend and shook his head. "Fine. Tomorrow."

Tseng sighed with relief, "Go clean yourself up and don't get anymore blood on the floor if you can help it."

"Sure thing." Reno slipped out of the ring haphazardly.

Rude walked over and threw one of Reno's arms over his shoulder and helped him to the shower room. Reno allowed Rude to support part of his weight and Rude took it slow so he didn't hurt his already damaged friend more. As they passed the rope Rude saw Reno glare at the thing and he laughed. "It's not the ropes fault you know."

"I'm blaming it anyways." Reno said with a frown.

"Want some advice?" Rude asked as he pulled Reno along.

"Sure, whatcha got for me?" Reno sniggered.

"Listen to people." Rude grinned as Reno snorted.

"You have no idea how many times I've heard that today." Reno shook from exhaustion and Rude chuckled.

"I believe you've heard it seventeen times today." Rude pushed open the door to the showers.

"Eighteen. You missed one." Reno grinned as he was led through the door.


	12. Chapter 12

"Sir, there is no way he's going to willingly allow me or anyone else to train him." Tseng was in Veld's office and was trying to remove whatever substance Reno had thrown at him during lunch. He threw down his handkerchief in frustration and resigned himself to the fact that the shirt was ruined.

"I thought you said you could handle him?" Veld raised an eyebrow in amusement as he watched his second in command struggled with the stain, "By the way, what the hell is on your shirt?"

"I've got no idea." Tseng frowned at the stain. "I thought I could handle him but he's getting more difficult everyday. Everyone else that started out this way at least showed some signs of strain with the amount of work I put them through but with Reno I could make him run miles and he would just come back and ask 'what's next?'" Tseng scowled as he remembered the time he had spent watching Reno run around the track. The red-head had almost dropped on the floor when he was finally allowed to stop and Tseng had thought he had won, but then Reno had simply asked, 'What's next?". Needless to say, it infuriated him.

"How is Rude doing?" Veld chuckled knowing that Tseng only used that as an example because he had tried it already.

"He's cooperative enough that I can have one of the other Turks train him and not think twice about it. Reno on the other hand..." Tseng trailed off.

"That bad eh?" Veld frowned.

"That bad." Tseng sighed.

"He'll come around." Veld shrugged.

"No he won't. He's stubborn as hell which will work to our advantage later but only if we can get him to stop being stubborn at us." Tseng frowned as he spoke.

"If I remember correctly Tseng, you weren't exactly easy to train either." Veld chuckled.

"If Reno ever becomes as professional as me I'll eat my tie." Tseng laughed dryly. "The way things are looking right now he's going to get himself killed his first patrol."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Veld shrugged as he spoke.

"Give me some idea of what I should do to get through to him." Tseng ran a hand over his face as he tried to soothe his fraying nerves.

"What did we have to do to get him to work for us in the first place Tseng?" Veld folded his hands on the desk in front of him.

Tseng grinned, "Give him incentive?"

"Give him incentive." Veld grinned back.

Rude laughed as he knocked Reno to the floor. "You were supposed to block that Reno."

Reno growled as he pushed himself off the floor. His hands were still not healed and the half formed scabs started to break open again as he got up. He hadn't gone a day without bleeding on something since he had had his fight with the rope. "I'm trying yo!"

Rude laughed. They had spent the past two weeks trying to best each other in everything and so far Rude was winning. Reno spent so much of his energy trying to get Tseng upset that he didn't have a lot left for their sparring matches.

"You loosing again Reno?" Matt guffawed as Reno glared at him.

"Not your business." Reno growled as he slipped out of the ring.

"It is my business. If you can't defend yourself here then you're going to be a sitting duck in the field." Matt's voice suddenly took on a serious tone and Reno forced his tired brain to absorb what he was saying.

"It's my first week alright? Give me some time." Reno glowered as he nursed his bleeding hands.

"You have time to improve but you need to be serious about this Reno." Matt crossed his arms and Reno huffed.

"I am bein' serious yo!" Reno's face turned sour and Rude sighed.

Brandon walked in, "If you were serious about being a Turk you wouldn't be wasting your energy trying to upset Tseng."

"He's got a point Reno." Rude said as he slipped out of the ring to stand next to his friend.

"I know he's got a point but the bastard is the one making me work here. I never said I wanted this, I'm just making the best out of a bad situation and if I can piss him off I'll be happier about it." Reno crossed his arms in front of his chest and refused to make eye contact with anyone.

"That attitude will get you killed." Brandon scowled and straightened his glasses.

"Listen, do you really think any of us are here because this was our first choice Reno? I wanted to be a Soldier but my body completely rejected the mako so they sent me here. I wasn't happy when I started out and I got myself in trouble doing the same stuff you are and I got myself shot because of it." Matt lifted his shirt to show the scar on his stomach. "I'm trying to keep you from making the same mistakes. It took all of us a while to get used to the idea of working here but the sooner you get comfortable with the inevitable the sooner you can start improving." Matt smiled kindly at Reno as he talked, "You've both got potential but Rude seems to be the only one giving his all to try and reach his. You need to get your ass in gear and work for it."

Reno glared at Matt before walking towards the shower room without a word.

"Probably not your best choice of words." Brandon sighed as he walked away.

Matt sighed, "I was trying to be encouraging, not demeaning."

"You failed." Rude grunted and left to talk to Reno. He entered the shower room to see Reno with his head in Matt's locker. "Whatever you're taking put it back."

"I'm not taking anything _out_ I'm putting stuff _in._" Reno smirked as he shut the locker with a bang.

"Do I want to know?" Rude eyed the locker as if it could explode at any moment.

"Probably not. It was something I was saving for Tseng but now Matt gets to have it. If I don't tell you any details you won't have to lie for me." Reno winked cheekily as he opened his own locker and got ready to shower.

"How did you get into his locker anyways?" Rude asked, still eyeing the locker warily.

"Picked the lock, how else?" Reno raised an eyebrow.

"When did you learn to pick a lock?" Rude asked as he opened his own locker.

Reno laughed, "I've known how to pick a lock since I was just a little terror to humanity. I never had a key to the loft so I had to learn to pick the lock early on. What, did you think I learned by robbing people or something?"

"I had my suspicions." Rude grunted as he pulled out his clothes and headed for the shower.

Reno's mouth dropped into a comical 'O' shape, "You thought I stole stuff!"

"I've thought worse about you." Rude chuckled as he entered the showers.

"Worse! How much worse!?" Reno followed Rude in an agitated fashion.

"..." Rude didn't respond, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Yo! How much worse!?" When he didn't get an answer Reno growled, "Yo I can't have you thinking I was worse than a thief yo!"

"I'm gonna let you ponder that for awhile. It'll give you something to do." Rude chuckled as he turned on the shower.

Reno scowled and stepped into his own stall to shower. "Jerkface!"

"Mature." Rude chuckled.

They stayed silent for a while as they showered. When they heard a surprised yell from the locker room Rude chuckled. "If he asks, I don't know you."

"If I expected anything else from you I wouldn't have done it." Reno grinned as he finished his shower early and tried to control his laughter as Matt ran into the room coated in white powder.

"What the hell is this stuff Reno!?" Matt yelled as he took three large steps in Reno's direction, clouds of dust rolling off him with each step.

"Chill yo it's just flour. It'll come right off." Reno grinned happily as he backed away from the angry man.

"Where the hell did you get flour?" Matt stopped his advance towards Reno, a puzzled look on his face as the flour dust settled around his feet.

"You gonna cut off my supply if I tell you?" Reno grinned as he finished dressing.

"Of course. Why the hell you even _had_ that much flour and a way to throw it concerns me." Matt started brushing the flour off of his body as he glared at Reno.

"I was saving that little prank for Tseng but since everyone frowns on me messing with him I figured I'd pick a new target." Reno grinned, an evil look in his eye.

Matt face-palmed, "Why me?"

Reno shrugged, "You've got a better sense of humor than Brandon."

Matt sighed and went back to the locker room without another word, flour clouding around him as he went. "I think you win Reno." Rude chuckled as he stepped out of the shower.

"I didn't know we were doing anything that required a win." Reno shrugged with a smile as he stuffed his hands in his pants pockets and walked out.

Rude shook his head and got dressed with a smile. He knew Reno delighted in tormenting people and that he shouldn't encourage it, but it was so damned entertaining that he couldn't resist.

Reno swaggered out of the gym in a tired fashion. He winked at Nasira as he passed and got an eye roll and a chuckle in return. Had his hands not been in pain he would have cracked his knuckles to watch Ellie's face contort at the sound. He was almost out of the gym when Tseng caught him. "Reno, we need to talk."

Reno sighed, his shoulders sagging and his prank induced good mood gone, "Yeah boss?"

Tseng opened his mouth to speak and then took in Reno's appearance. "Where's your tie?"

"Don't like nooses. Didn't I fuck up your shirt earlier?" Reno raised his eyebrow and cocked his head to one side as he stared at Tseng's shirt.

"I changed." Tseng frowned.

"How many spares have you got?" Reno asked with a wicked grin.

Tseng shook his head with an exasperated sigh, "I've got a proposition for you."

Reno raised an eyebrow, "What kind of proposition are we talking about?"

Tseng grinned internally but kept his face stoic. "I want you to show up and follow orders everyday, not spend all your time and energy finding new ways to mess with me, and wear your uniform properly in my presence."

"What's in it for me?" Reno crossed his arms in front of his chest. Tseng better have a damned good offer if he was going to wear a tie.

"Helicopter lessons every Saturday. This means you'll have to skip out on the Friday night drinking I know you've been looking forward too. Can't have you flying hungover." Tseng knew by the look on Reno's face that he was considering the offer, "Before you make up your mind, I suggest you actually get to ride in a helicopter first to see if you even like flying."

Reno tried to hide the eagerness in his voice when he answered, "Sounds like a good idea. It had better be an orgasmic experience if I'm going to wear one of your damned _ties_." He sneered the last word with a grimace.

Tseng let himself smile before he led the way to the helicopter pad with Reno in tow. If he played his cards right he might have a few weeks of relative peace. He would milk Reno's desire to fly for all it was worth.

Reno tried not to gape at the size of the craft in front of him but he couldn't help it. He had only ever seen helicopters on TV or as tiny pinpricks in the sky. He had never quite grasped the fact that they would be huge but now that he had one in front of him he couldn't help but wonder how it flew.

He climbed into the cockpit behind Tseng and gave the controls that filled the area a puzzled stare as Tseng buckled himself in. "Reno, buckle up."

"Sure thing." Reno was quieter than normal and Tseng grinned. Reno picked up the straps and slipped them over his shoulders before he stared the buckle down as if he would figure out how to work them if he looked hard enough. Tseng reached over and buckled Reno in as he tried not to laugh.

"I'm guessing you've never flown before?" Tseng grinned as he began flipping switches.

"Fuck Tseng I'd never even ridden in a _car_ before you showed up. What the hell gives you the idea that I could have ever _flown_?" Reno rolled his eyes as he reached towards the control panel curiously.

Tseng smacked his hand and he withdrew it quickly. "Don't touch anything."

"Why not?" Reno asked as he rubbed the back of his hand.

"Because if you touch the wrong thing you could send us crashing down." Tseng replied as he continued flipping switches. Reno quickly placed his hands in his lap with a frightened look. Tseng chuckled to himself as he started the engine.

Reno had his face plastered to the window as the helicopter took off and kept it there as they flew over Midgar. He let his jaw drop as he saw the city below him.

"Everything looks better from above Reno." Tseng said as he heard Reno's awe-filled exclamations.

"Really?" Reno pulled his face away from the window to look at Tseng.

"Really." Tseng answered.

Reno turned his attention back to the window and the gleaming city below. "It looks so different."

"That's because you can't see the angry hurting face of everyone who passes. You can't see the filth that litters the streets. You can't see the graffiti. From this angle it looks like a clean and splendid work of art." Tseng glowered as he spoke.

"You got that right!" Reno grinned as he pulled his face from the window to gaze at the clouds in front of them.

"So, what's your answer to my offer?" Tseng asked as he directed the chopper.

Reno chewed his lip, "I dunno yo, is the tie negotiable?"

"No." Tseng laughed in spite of himself.

"Darn." Reno sighed heavily, "What time do you want me here Saturday?"

"Eight o'clock sharp." Tseng grinned as he steered the helicopter back down towards Midgar.


	13. Chapter 13

Reno growled at the mirror as he unknotted his tie. He had been trying to get it on for fifteen minutes and couldn't manage to make it look like a tie. He growled and threw it on the floor angrily as he started swearing at no one in particular. He sighed and picked the tie up before leaving his apartment. He walked across the hall to pound on Gareth's door. Gareth pulled the door open and raised an eyebrow as he looked at Reno. "What's up red?"

"Help me with this tie!" Reno thrust the tie under Gareth's nose.

"You're finally breaking down and wearing this thing?" Gareth took the tie incredulously.

"Tseng's giving me chopper lessons if I behave myself around him and wear my uniform _properly_." Reno sneered the last word.

Gareth laughed as he wrapped the tie around Reno's neck and began to tie it. "Didn't someone teach you how these work?"

"Yeah but I can't do it!" Reno scowled as Gareth deftly knotted his tie and slid it up to his neck.

"Too tight?" Gareth asked as he adjusted the tie.

"No matter where you put it it's going to be too tight." Reno pouted. Gareth grinned and let his hands linger on Reno's tie. "What?" Reno raised an eyebrow.

Gareth's grin got wider, "I'm thinking of doing some very naughty things to you with this tie red."

Reno rolled his eyes, "Are you like this with everyone or am I just lucky?"

Gareth laughed and let go. "You have to tuck in your shirt you know." Reno shrugged. Gareth gave Reno an evil grin, "Do you want me to do that for you too?"

Reno chuckled, "Whatever floats your boat yo." Gareth chuckled and began tucking in Reno's shirt. Reno jumped as Gareth's hand brushed his stomach, "Watch where you're puttin' your hands yo!"

"Sorry red." Gareth laughed, "Don't act like you don't like it though."

Reno blushed lightly as Gareth let his hands linger. "That tickles!" Reno's breath hitched and Gareth laughed before he finished tucking in Reno's shirt the rest of the way.

"It'll do more than tickle when I'm done with you." Gareth chuckled as he zipped up Reno's jacket.

Reno scowled, his face bright red, "Got plans for me already have you?"

Gareth gave a wicked smile, "You've no idea red."

"Good to see you followed instructions Reno." Tseng nodded his approval as Reno walked up in full uniform. "Who tied the tie?"

"Gareth." Reno stopped, "Wait, how did you know I couldn't tie it?"

"Intuition rookie." Tseng said wryly as he led the way to the ring.

"Hmph." Reno scowled before stuffing his hands in his pockets and following.

Reno panted as he sparred with Rude. "That all you got?" Rude grunted as Reno dodged another of his punches. "Thought so!" Reno grinned as he weaved behind Rude and kicked the back of his knees.

Rude fell forward with a grunt. He picked himself off the floor with a smile, "See what happens when you concentrate Reno?"

"Yeah, you loose focus." Reno grinned as he slipped out of the ring to finish his workout with Tseng.

"You finally win Reno?"Jareth grinned and slapped Reno playfully on the shoulder as he walked by.

"Yep." Reno grinned as he walked over to Tseng. "Whatcha got for me boss?"

Tseng held out a long rod. "I've got a weapon for you."

Reno grabbed it from Tseng's hand and looked it over. "What is it? I thought you were going to make me use guns."

"Your lack of aim made me think differently." Tseng grinned.

"I don't like the noise they make alright? My aim has nothing to do with it." Reno frowned as he pushed a button on the side. Electricity shot up his arm and he yelped, dropping the weapon to the floor. "_The hell!?_"

"It's called an EMR. As you've just figured out it electrocutes anything it touches. We're still working out the kinks in the system but since you aren't good with guns or just your hands we figured we'd augment your skills with this." Tseng picked the EMR off the floor and shut it off before shoving it back in Reno's hands.

"Are you going to teach me how to use it?" Reno asked as Tseng began to walk away.

"No, Brandon and Gareth will teach you how to use it. I'd rather not be around while you electrocute yourself and others. See you tomorrow morning." Tseng called over his shoulder as he walked out of the gym.

"Well Reno, are you ready?" Brandon straightened his glasses and walked up with his own EMR in hand.

"Sure thing." Reno grabbed the EMR tentatively, afraid it would shock him again if he did something wrong.

"I usually don't use these but since Gareth is preoccupied at the moment with a mission I will fill in." Brandon turned on his EMR, "Let's get started shall we?"

Reno limped down the hall to his apartment and leaned against the door as he pulled his key out of his pocket. "You gonna be alright?" Rude asked with a raised eyebrow as Reno fumbled in his pockets.

"I'll be fine yo." Reno sighed as he searched blindly for his key. What confused him was the fact that he couldn't find his key in a pocket that had nothing in it.

"You sure you don't want to come to the bar with everyone?" Rude smirked as he realized that Reno's pockets were empty.

"I can't go yo, Tseng said I have to show up sober and un-hungover tomorrow." Reno frowned and began to dig through his other pocket.

"That sucks. Reno, I don't think you have your key." Rude chuckled as Reno's frown deepened.

"Yo I know I brought it with me!" Reno groaned as he ran a hand through his hair, "I think I left it in the locker room."

"Want me to stay and hang with you tonight?" Rude stepped back as Reno staggered away from the door and back down the hall.

"No, you go have fun Rude. I know you're trying to get with Ellie." Reno chuckled as he went.

Rude gaped. "How did you know I liked her?"

"Yo I'm your best friend, I get an eerie look at your thoughts whether you let me in on them or not." Reno chuckled as he jammed his finger on the elevator call button.

"Don't say anything to her about it alright?" Rude warned as they entered the elevator.

"Aye aye captain." Reno mock saluted as the elevator descended.

Rude got off in the lobby and joined the small group of Turks waiting for him there. Reno sighed and wished that he could join them as he rode the elevator down to the gym. He sighed as he walked with a slight limp into the gym. He was glad no one was there to watch him limp and whimper as he went. Brandon had used the EMR on him without mercy and his muscles were now sore and he was covered in small burn marks. He went to his locker and found his keys sitting on the bottom. He glared at them before stowing them in his pocket and making his way back to the elevator. As he reached the rope he stopped and stared at it. _This is all __**your**__ fault._ He glared angrily at the rope before a evil smile began to spread across his face. He hobbled back to the locker room and pulled out the small pocket knife he had had with him when Tseng 'recruited' him. He slammed his locker shut and hobbled back to the rope, the evil smile still playing at his lips. He shoved the blade between his teeth and grabbed ahold of the rope, wincing slightly as his muscles protested. He ignored the pain and began his assent.

Reno walked back to his apartment in worse condition than he had left in. His hands were bleeding and, if possible, everything else hurt even worse than before. He was smiling and whistling as he walked and if it weren't for the limp he would have a spring in his step. His happiness probably had something to do with the twenty foot rope swinging in his hand but everyone who passed him was too afraid to ask about it.

Reno opened his apartment door with bloody fingers and made sure he pulled the entire length of his trophy inside before he shut the door. He threw the rope on his couch, heedless to the blood on it that would stain his couch. He opened his window and looked outside before sitting on the sill and pulling out a cigarette. He never had a chance to smoke during the day because Tseng either kept him too busy for it or wouldn't let him go outside to have one. As he breathed the smoky poison into his lungs he watched the people of Midgar enjoy the night life.

He threw his legs over the window sill and swung them back and forth as he smoked, holding onto the window with his free hand to keep his balance. He wished that he was out with the rest of the Turks getting completely sloshed in some bar somewhere but he felt better when he thought about the helicopter lesson he would be getting in the morning. He flicked the stub of his cigarette towards the ground below him and watched the small yellow ember at its end as it fell. He pulled out another one and put it to his lips with a smile as some poor bastard below him got hit with it and began to swear. He pulled himself back into his apartment when the swears became death threats and he dropped his other cigarette as he moved, laughing as it spiraled down towards the angry man. He lit up another cigarette with a happy smile.

He heard loud pounding against his door and went to answer it, confused by how fast someone had decided to complain about his smoking. "Who the hell is it?"

"It's MEEEEE!" Reno laughed as he heard Gareth's obviously drunk voice.

He opened the door to see Gareth propped against his doorframe. "I thought you were on a mission?"

"I was! I finished and then got totally tanked!" Gareth laughed and lurched forward as he fought a loosing battle against gravity.

Reno held out a hand to steady his drunk friend, "I can tell. Where's everybody else? They still boozing it up?"

"Everyone else is still at the bar, I decided to call it quits early." Gareth hiccuped and giggled drunkenly. "Aren't you happy to see me red?"

"Course I am yo, I just figured you'd still be getting tanked." Reno laughed.

Gareth pulled his keys out of his pocket and and jingled them in Reno's face, "I'm to tanked to work my keys."

Reno laughed, "Wanna sober up over here for awhile then?"

"Sounds good red." Gareth stepped inside Reno's apartment cautiously, swaying with every step. He spotted the rope on Reno's couch and grinned, "Oh red you didn't!"

Reno grabbed the rope and threw it into another room, "Of course I didn't! Yo pretend you never saw that ok?"

Gareth sat on the couch and spread his arms across the back with an evil grin, "I saw it alright red, you're gonna be in so much trouble when I tell Tseng!"

Reno's face turned stark white, "Please don't!"

"I'm gonna do it red! Can't hide something like that for long ya know." Gareth grinned and pulled out his phone as Reno stood in front of him to beg.

"Please Gareth! I can't have Tseng this pissed at me before my first lesson! Put the phone down!" Reno reached over and snatched the phone from Gareth's fingers.

Gareth grabbed Reno by the tie, "You should have thought of that before you cut it down."

Reno tossed the phone aside and tried to pull his tie out of Gareth's grip, "The rope was mocking me yo! It deserved it!"

"The rope didn't do anything Reno, you did. You're going to have to convince me not to tell." Gareth pulled Reno onto his lap by his tie and wrapped his other arm around his waist.

"You really are drunk as hell aren't you?" Reno's breath hitched as Gareth's hand reached under his shirt.

"Does it matter?" Gareth asked as he pulled on Reno's tie.

"Yes it does." Reno laughed nervously as he found himself only inches away from Gareth's face.

"Why?" Gareth ran his hand up Reno's chest as he toyed with his tie.

"Because I'm not doing this if you're drunk." Reno tried to push himself off of Gareth's lap only to have Gareth pull him in closer.

"Why not? I obviously want this." Gareth grinned and pressed his lips to Reno's neck teasingly.

Reno's breathing quickened, "You might think differently once you're sober."

"I don't think I will." Gareth nipped at Reno's collarbone and hummed happily as he felt Reno tremble against him.

" Ng-I think you will." Reno began to pant as Gareth ran his hand over his chest.

"Don't argue." Gareth's voice was husky and Reno wanted so badly to obey, but he knew it was wrong to let Gareth do something like this drunk.

"Ah- I think I will argue actually." Reno's voice had taken on a higher pitch as Gareth ran a thumb over his nipple, "I'm not going to fuck you while you're drunk."

Gareth began to undo Reno's tie, "What if you're drunk too?"

"Yo I'm not getting drunk so we can fuck Gareth." Reno regained a small amount of his self control when Gareth's lips moved away from him.

"So I have to sober up then?" Gareth tossed the tie over his shoulder and started to unbutton Reno's shirt.

"Sober up and then come see me yo." Reno tried to slip off of Gareth's lap but a strong hand held him in place.

"You just said you won't fuck me drunk, doesn't mean I can't still play with you." Gareth slid his free hand over Reno's exposed chest as he pulled his hips closer.

Reno looked down at Gareth and tried to wiggle off of him but his attempt was useless. "I don't like being teased."

"You will when I'm done with you." Gareth gave Reno a wicked smile before pulling Reno's face to his own. He kissed him roughly before drawing back, "You taste like cigarettes red."

"It's cause I smoke genius. If you've got a problem with the taste you should let me off yo." Reno was slightly breathless as Gareth stroked his chest.

"Never said I had a problem with it." Gareth pulled Reno down to him again, "There's no fucking way I'm letting you down Reno."

Reno moaned as Gareth kissed him again. His lust clouded brain tried to think of an argument that would force Gareth to let him go but Gareth's ministrations quickly removed all intelligent thoughts from his brain. He pulled back for air, "We shouldn't."

"Shouldn't doesn't stop me red." Gareth captured Reno's lips again and ran a hand along his thigh, reveling in the noise it evoked from the red-head.

"Didn't think you swung this way yo." Reno was still half-heartedly trying to pull himself off of Gareth's lap.

"Obviously I do." Gareth flipped Reno onto his back on the couch suddenly and pinned him there, "Stop trying to get away." He whispered against Reno's neck.

Reno squirmed as Gareth ran a hand over his hip, "No way yo, I'm not doing this when you're drunk."

"We aren't doing anything Reno. Just having fun until I sober up, _then_ we'll do something." Gareth nipped at Reno's throat as he spoke and chuckled at the growl Reno gave him.

"You wanna tease me 'till you're sober?" Reno felt heat rush to his groin as Gareth's knee went between his legs.

"Unless you let me go further sooner." Gareth scraped his teeth along Reno's shoulder with a happy groan.

Reno bucked involuntarily, "Dammit!" He panted as Gareth's hand moved closer to his groin.

There was a loud knock on the door and Reno sighed heavily in relief as Gareth pulled away from him reluctantly. "Saved by the bell."

"Only 'till whoever rang that bell leaves red." Gareth let Reno up and adjusted his clothes.

"That's what you think." Reno huffed and moved to open the door as the person on the other side knocked again.

"Hey Reno." Rude hiccuped as he leaned on the doorframe.

"Yo you've got no idea how happy I am to see you buddy." Reno stepped aside as Rude tottered into his apartment.

Gareth frowned, "Dammit! Three's a crowd."

"Huh?" Rude frowned in confusion as Gareth pouted.

"Don't worry about it yo, Gareth's drunk off his rocker just like you." Reno steered his friend onto the sofa happily as Gareth shot him a death glare.

"Oh. Okay." Rude grunted and allowed Reno to direct his clumsy steps.

"So what happened with you and Ellie?" Reno pried as he sat in the chair next to the couch.

"Nothing." Rude frowned and held his head in his hands.

"Whaddaya mean nothin'?" Reno raised an eyebrow as Rude glared at him.

"I mean nothning. Shle was alover some Slodier boy all night." Reno laughed as Rude's speech started to garble.

"That sucks yo." Reno placed his arms behind his head with a wince as the pain he had so blissfully forgotten under Gareth's hands came rushing back.

"Yeah I guess so." Rude was obviously having trouble as he swayed in his seat. "I'm so fruckin drunk."

"Sounds like it." Gareth huffed angrily as he leaned on the arm of the couch.

"Theroom won't stop movin." Rude slurred as he tipped forward with a groan.

"Yo you gonna be sick Rude?" Reno stood up quickly and ran to grab the trash can as Rude tipped forward again. Luckily he made it back in time for Rude to empty his stomach into the can instead of onto the floor.

"Sorry." Rude wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "Too much.... Jareth dared me to."

"Don't ever agree to Jareth's challenges." Gareth was sounding much less drunk and held his head as if he had a headache. Reno kind of hoped he did after all the teasing he had been put through.

"Noted." Rude grunted before he began dry heaving into the can.

"Gross yo." Reno grimaced as Rude fought with his stomach.

"Sorry." Rude groaned as he huddled over the bucket.

"No prob yo, it's just the damned noise." Reno grimaced as Rude heaved again.

Gareth stood up and swayed slightly, "Damn I should learn not to get so tanked." He patted Rude on the shoulder as he wobbled towards the door. "Feel better Rude."

Rude's only response was a groan.

"Need help yo?" Reno asked as Gareth tipped precariously to one side.

"Please?" Gareth steadied himself with a hand on the wall as Reno moved to help him, grabbing the discarded phone and handing it to the him.

"Be back in a sec Rude. Keep it in the can." Reno called over his shoulder as his friend gave another sickening lurch.

Reno helped Gareth back to his apartment, thankful that it was only a few feet away. "Where's your keys?"

"In my pocket." Gareth leaned heavily on Reno.

"Gonna get them out?" Reno huffed as Gareth's weight pressed down on him.

"I don't think I can." Gareth chuckled as he heard Reno growl.

Reno shoved his hand into Gareth's pockets until he found the keys, blushing as he did. "Which one is for your door?"

"Door to the bedroom or the apartment?" Gareth giggled and leaned down to nibble Reno's ear.

"Apartment smart ass." Reno tried to ignore the teasing teeth as he sifted through keys.

"The round one." Gareth moved down Reno's neck.

"They're all fucking round yo!" Reno's breath hitched but he ignored it.

"It's got a five on it somewhere." Gareth sucked on Reno's piercing.

"Two of them have fives Gareth." Reno growled and began shoving one of the keys into the lock, hoping he had chosen the right one.

"Might have a three too." Gareth moved his lips down Reno's neck.

"I've got it." Reno pulled the first key out and tried the next one. The door opened with a satisfying click and he started to pull Gareth inside.

"You found it too fast." Gareth pouted as Reno steered him into his bedroom.

"I didn't find it fast enough in my opinion." Reno shoved Gareth onto the bed.

"Gonna help me get undressed red?" Gareth giggled and Reno rolled his eyes.

"Yo you had enough brain cells left to undo my buttons I don't see how yours are any different." Reno growled as he started to help Gareth out of his shirt.

"They're different because they're mine." Gareth giggled and arched his chest into Reno's hands.

Reno shoved him down, "Settle down I'm not doing anything even remotely sexy."

"Are too." Gareth reached up and pulled Reno down so that the red head was splayed across his chest and straddling his erection.

Reno felt blood rush to his face and _other_ areas as he sat up. "Drunk giggling pervy bastard." He cursed under his breath as he finished undoing Gareth's shirt. He slid it off him and held back a groan as he felt Gareth shift under him.

"I'm perverted all the time." Gareth grinned and grabbed Reno's hand.

"You usually keep it to yourself." Reno's breath hitched as Gareth moved his hand over the creamy white skin below him.

"I'll make sure to be perverted at you more often, you seem to like it." Gareth whispered as he ran a hand up Reno's thigh.

Reno jumped as Gareth's hand brushed his thickening member, "Make sure you're sober next time." He slid off of Gareth's chest and left the apartment in a rush.

Rude was still cradling the trash can when he returned and he was glad his friend didn't need to have someone hold his hair back for him. He found it quite easy to calm down as he rubbed soothing circles on Rude's back while he puked his guts out and whimpered.


	14. Chapter 14

Reno woke up feeling agitated. He dressed in a huff, not even bothering to knot his tie. He simply hung it around his neck before leaving. Rude was still passed out on his couch and Reno knew the longer he slept the better off he would be later.

He got to the roof early and sat to wait, cigarettes in hand. He sighed and silently cursed Rude and Gareth for snatching sleep from him. Gareth had worked him up so bad that by the time he got to sleep his dreams were heated and restless and punctuated by the sound of retching. He hadn't been able to truly get to sleep during the night because Rude would wake him up frequently, and very much by accident, when he would groan or vomit in his sleep. Reno would always go out to make sure Rude wasn't drowning in a pool of his own puke. He wasn't angry at either of them, knowing that they had both simply gotten drunk and had been unable to truly control their actions. He wished Gareth had had more self control though, he could have done without the dreams.

He began puffing out smoke rings as he scanned the roof entrances for Tseng. He had found what he thought to be a highly defensible position where no one could sneak up on him and his straining nerves and if nothing else he was out of the chill winds that blew debris across the roof. He sat until his ass went numb and then he sat some more. He was ridiculously bored and it was hard for him to keep his mind from wandering back to the 'couch incident', as he was beginning to refer to it, which was only serving to stress him out more. He had lost count of the number of cigarettes he had smoked in the past half hour but he knew it was probably more than he should and that they were doing next to nothing to make him feel any calmer. If anything they were serving to stress him out more. He flicked his finished cigarette across the pavement and lit up another, trying to burn the memory out of his head without burning his fingers.

When he finally saw Tseng he was almost ecstatic with relief at the idea of not being by himself anymore. His own thoughts were seeming to betray him. Tseng walked calmly over to his corner hideout and eyed the cigarettes littering the ground with distaste, "You're early."

"How early?" Reno raised an eyebrow as he puffed a smoke ring in Tseng's direction.

"I didn't expect you for another half hour." Tseng grimaced and waved away the smoke ring that was invading his breathing space.

"Had a rough night yo." Reno shrugged and puffed out another cloud of smoke.

"I figured you would. Matt told me Rude didn't look good when he left and he said Gareth was planning on paying you a visit. I assume they are the cause of the many cigarettes you're poisoning yourself with?" Tseng kicked a cigarette butt with his shoe.

"Good assumption there boss." Reno chuckled.

"Wanna discuss it?" Tseng looked less than eager to 'discuss it'. Of course Tseng generally looked less than eager to do anything.

"Not your problem." Reno smashed his cigarette into the pavement.

"Suit yourself." Tseng almost looked relieved as he walked towards the helicopter.

Reno stood up and walked stiffly after his leader, still trying to quell his racing thoughts.

"By the time I'm done with you you'll be able to fly circles around any other pilot, myself included." Tseng patted the helicopter fondly as he spoke.

"Sounds good ta me." Reno stuffed his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders against the wind.

"Lets get started then shall we?" Tseng gave Reno a small grin before climbing into the helicopter.

When they were finished Reno hadn't even touched the controls. The chopper hadn't even left the ground. Reno was rather pissed about that but he knew he had to learn how the helicopter operated before he ever laid hands on the controls and it kept his mind occupied so he wasn't about to complain. Tseng had been forced to end the lesson early because of a surprise meeting called by a higher up in Shinra who's name Reno couldn't bother to remember. It was nearly noon when he made it back down to his apartment and Rude was still on his couch where he had left him although he had cleaned himself up.

"How was the lesson?" Rude asked as Reno walked in and threw the tie he had never bothered to knot onto the floor.

"Educational." Reno peeled off his jacket. "God these things are constricting."

"They're professional." Rude smirked and sat up.

"You go back to your apartment?" Reno undid the top few buttons on his shirt.

"Yeah, had to get clothes and stuff. Didn't want to smell like beer and puke all day." Rude shrugged, "A shower was also in order."

Reno laughed, "So wanna let me know what happened last night? Ya usually don't get that tanked without a good reason." Reno kicked his shoes off and they hit the wall with a bang.

"Turned down Ellie and got in a drinking contest with Jareth." Rude shrugged as Reno sprawled himself onto the couch beside him.

"I thought you liked Ellie? Why turn her down?" Reno propped his head up on one hand and gazed at his friend.

"She was just looking for a screw Reno. After I said no she didn't want anything to do with me and spent the rest of the night hanging on some Soldier bastard." Rude shrugged again.

"That sucks. Didn't think she'd be whoring herself out like that." Reno frowned.

"Me neither. If I had known I wouldn't have been interested in the first place." Rude frowned, "It sure as hell does suck now that I know though."

Reno reached a hand over and patted Rude on the back, "I know buddy."

Rude sighed, "I won the drinking contest by the way."

Reno raised an eyebrow, "Yo I'd say ya guzzled down the entire freakin bar the way ya were barfing last night."

Rude chuckled, "Sorry about that."

"No problem." Reno grinned and ran a hand through his hair.

"So through that nice drunk haze I had going last night I still managed to notice you and Gareth were acting weird as hell when I walked in. You couldn't look more relieved and I don't think I've ever seen him angrier. Was that the beer or do you want to fill me in on what I was interrupting?" Rude raised an eyebrow with a smile.

Reno groaned and buried his head in his hands, "Goddamn that bastard's sexy when he's drunk. Totally came in and tried to jump my nuts. Had me pinned down when ya came a knockin'. Pissed him off when I let ya in but I don't think I coulda kept my cool without the interruption. So I'm glad ya came waltzing in drunk off your ass, he's pissed as hell."

Rude chuckled, "He came asking for you a couple hours ago."

Reno raised his head, "What'd ya tell 'im?"

"Told him you were on the roof taking helicopter lessons from Tseng." Rude shrugged nonchalantly.

"He'll probably be back later. Hopefully to apologize for basically trying ta rape me last night." Reno laughed, "Ta tell ya the truth buddy I wouldn't have minded if he was sober."

Rude chuckled, "I know. I figured eventually you two would have some kind of relationship."

"How the hell did you know?" Reno frowned.

"I'm your best friend Reno, I get an eerie look at your thoughts even if you don't know you're thinking them." Rude smiled.

Reno shook his head, "Wanna go grab some lunch?"

"Cafeteria's probably open." Rude stood up.

"Hopefully they don't know what I'm doing with all the sugar packets yet." Reno rubbed his hands together with an evil grin.

"Don't tell me so I don't have to act surprised." Rude shrugged his jacket on.

"You're a terrible actor." Reno scoffed.

While they ate Rude tried very hard not to pay attention to the fact that Reno was stuffing dozens upon dozens of sugar packets into his pockets, creating very ominous bulges in his pants and jacket. They were soon joined by Matt and Nasira.

"Hey Reno, hey Rude." Nasira greeted them in a sing-song voice and ruffled Reno's hair before sitting down beside Matt.

"Someone's cheerful." Reno frowned and tried to rearrange his hair.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Nasira raised an eyebrow at Reno, "You realize you're only making it worse right?"

Reno stuck his tongue out at her, earning a chuckle from Rude, "I figured you'd still be feeling a little plastered after how drunk everybody seemed ta be last night. Or did ya call it quits early ta go home and get laid?" Reno wiggled his eyebrows in Matt's direction.

Reno was still nursing the stinging red hand print painted across his cheek when Brandon walked in with a bouncy brunette on his arm. "Who's the dame?" Reno asked, rubbing his cheek and shooting Nasira a dirty look.

"Dame?" Brandon growled and the woman at his side laughed.

"Who're the new guys?" The brunette sat down beside Rude.

"The quiet one is Rude and the obnoxious one is Reno." Nasira stabbed at her food as she spoke.

"I wasn't being obnoxious Nasira, the blush on your face tells me I was right on the money." Reno ducked as Nasira's hand came towards him again. "Note to self, never sit by you again. The orgasm afterglow only lasts so long." Reno jumped out of his seat and climbed over the table to sit on the other side of Rude as Nasira moved to hit him.

"I can see you're making friends already." The brunette scoffed, "I'm Cissnei."

"Pleased ta meet ya." Reno saluted sloppily. "I'm guessing you're a Turk and you're Brandon's?"

"Yes, I'm a Turk and I'm Brandon's." Cissnei giggled and cuddled against Brandon's arm.

"So where's everyone else?" Brandon asked no one in particular, trying to hide the blush creeping along his cheeks.

"I think Jareth's still fighting a massive hangover and I don't know where Gareth is. Ellie went home with a Soldier last night but she called and let me know she was okay this morning." Nasira was still moodily stabbing at her food as she glared at Reno.

"The Commander?" Cissnei absentmindedly stroked Brandon's sleeve as she spoke.

"He's at a meetin'." Reno snuck more sugar packets into his pocket.

"I figured he would at least want to debrief me before I had to head out again." Cissnei pouted and rested her head on Brandon's shoulder.

"When are you leaving again?" Brandon murmured against her hair.

"Tomorrow. They never seem to keep that bastard in one place." Cissnei sighed.

Matt, who had been uncharacteristically silent during the conversation chose this moment to jump in, "I say we go break Cissnei back in before she has to leave."

"Break me back in?" Cissnei raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, lets go to the gym and make sure you're not going soft on us." Matt grinned evilly.

Cissnei returned the wicked grin, "You think I'm going soft do you? I'll show you soft!" Cissnei dragged Brandon from the table and Matt and Nasira followed.

"You coming guys?" Matt called over his shoulder.

"You go on ahead Rude, I've got somethin' ta do." Reno winked and left the cafeteria.

Rude shook his head and followed the group, trying to convince himself that he didn't care what Reno was going to do with those sugar packets.

Reno went to his apartment first to grab the small bag of sugar packets he had been adding to all week and a small piece of cardboard. Since he had found out where the meeting room the higher ups used he had been all to eager to wreak havoc there. He pocketed the bag and ran up the many flights of stairs leading to the meeting room on the 66th floor.

He fiddled with the air system and turned it off before continuing on. Reno made his way casually to the bathroom on the 66th floor, trying to hide a wicked grin as he passed the meeting room doors.

When he got to the bathroom he closed the stall door and waited for the other occupants to leave before he stood on the toilet and removed the panel to the air vents. He pulled himself in and shimmied towards the vent he knew was directly above the meeting room. He pulled the cardboard out of his jacket and set it over the vent to hide his actions. He caught a glimpse of a blonde executive trying to sweet talk Tseng and he had to hold back a snigger. He began tearing the sugar packets to shreds over the cardboard and he had to stifle evil laughter as the pile of powdery substance got bigger. As he shredded the packets he listened to the meeting below and after about five minutes he was amazed that he was still awake. The speakers droning voice was enough to completely zap the life out of him and he knew that if he hadn't been working on his prank he would have fallen asleep.

When he had shredded all the packets he removed the cardboard and shimmied back out of the vent. He stuffed the cardboard into the trash and walked out of the bathroom with a evil grin plastered to his face. He went back to the air system and turned it back on. He sat in a vacant cubicle where he could see the meeting room door. He heard cries of shock pour of out the meeting room as the sugar and paper shot out of the vent. When the door opened he could see that the ceiling fan in the room was spreading the sugar and paper around and it lightly coated everything. He could see Tseng trying to brush the stuff of his suit as the woman who had been throwing herself at him ran from the room with a terrified shriek. Reno doubled over in laughter as Tseng made his way towards him with angry strides.

"What the hell did you do Reno?" Tseng grabbed Reno by the shoulders.

"What makes ya think I did it?" Reno wiped a tear of laughter from his eye.

"It has you written all over it Reno. I can't think of anyone else who would do this. Plus, you look like you've been crawling through the vents." Tseng brushed the dust off Reno's shoulder.

"Damn, knew I forgot to check something." Reno frowned and brushed the dust off his jacket as Tseng tried to get the sugar from his own.

"If it wasn't for that you'd be in the clear. As it is, I don't think I can be too mad at you." Tseng brushed bits of paper and sugar from his hair with a smirk. "You certainly livened things up. I was about half asleep, the only thing keeping me awake was my desire to keep Scarlet out of my pants."

Reno laughed, "You're welcome yo. I listened to that guy for about five minutes and nearly passed out. You've been in there for over an hour yo, I can't imagine how annoying that was."

"Reeve can be long winded." Tseng straightened his suit, "That was an impressive feat Reno. You got the drop on two Turks and three Soldiers and one of those Soldiers was the General himself. Even if you were just pulling a prank, being able to do something so quietly that even Sephiroth doesn't pick up on it shows real promise as a Turk. I'm willing to forgive you for being out of uniform because of this."

"Damn, I was tryin ta piss ya off not make ya proud of me." Reno grinned at the praise despite his sullen tone.

"You should be glad it was Reeve you interrupted. I don't even think he enjoys listening to his speeches." Tseng began to lead Reno towards the stairs.

"Sure as hell talks a lot for not enjoying it yo." Reno followed obediently, a spring in his step.

Authors Note: I love Reno pranks :) I took my idea for this one from my story Flour Cannons. I just replaced flour with sugar. Read and review please!


	15. Chapter 15

Rude sighed and tried to focus his attention on the manual Tseng had thrust into his hands at the start of the day. Reno was goofing around, as usual, and he made it very hard to concentrate on doing his work. Tseng wanted them to memorize the manuals within the week and he had stopped all physical training until they had learned it.

Reno kept distracting him though. Reno would fidget with his tie, sleep on the book and snore loudly, or try to talk to him while he was reading and it was starting to get on his nerves. Every now and again Gareth or Tseng would come into the small classroom-like office and force him to concentrate by either shoving his head into the book or picking his head up off it. Rude wondered where the rest of the Turks were and figured they were probably on missions or doing the enormous amount of paperwork that Jareth often complained to him about.

Rude tried to ignore the snores coming from his left as he took notes. He found the book to be extremely dull and hard to concentrate on and he didn't blame Reno for falling asleep but he wished that he wouldn't snore so loudly. The door banged open after a few moments and Reno's snores stopped. He didn't lift his head though and Rude knew he was feigning sleep for his own amusement. For some reason the red-head enjoyed the reactions he got from Tseng even though Rude would rather read the book than have Tseng yell at him. To each his own.

Tseng gripped Reno's ponytail and yanked his head up and over the back of the chair so that he was staring at the ceiling.

"Hey boss-man." Reno grinned sleepily into the face of his angry superior.

"Since you seem to know the book well enough to sleep would you mind telling me what to do in a hostage situation?" Tseng pulled Reno's hair harder.

Reno screwed up his eyes in concentration, "In a hostage situation a Turk must put the life of his Priority first and ignore all hostages. In the event that the Turk's Priority is the hostage that Turk must do everything possible to rescue the Priority and eliminate the threat to said Priority. If a Turk has two Priorities and one is captured that Turk must wait for back-up before rescuing the hostage Priority. If no back-up is available the Turk must protect the Priority of greatest importance to the Shinra company. If the most important Priority is the hostage the Turk will abandon the less important Priority in a safe location and rescue the other Priority. In the event that-" Tseng cut him off.

"I don't need the whole damn book recited at me Reno." Tseng let go of his hair with an angry scowl.

"You asked." Reno let his head fall forward and straightened his hair.

"What am I going to do with you Reno? You can't stay awake for more than five minutes yet you've somehow managed to memorize the book." Tseng rubbed his forehead wearily.

"Put some damn pictures in this book yo! It's fuckin boring!" Reno yawned pointedly.

Rude shook his head and looked back at his book. Of course Reno would be able to recite entire pages from the book. Rude had been reading the book under his breath for hours now.

"Just stay awake rookie." Tseng huffed and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Easy ta say, hard ta do." Reno grinned and folded his arms over the desk, letting his head rest on them. "How's it comin' Rude?" Rude didn't answer. "I know, boring as hell right?" Rude didn't respond. "So when do you think Tseng will pull that stick outta his ass?" Rude snorted and Reno let out a chuckle.

"Talking to yourself Reno?" Gareth grinned as he pushed the door open.

"Talkin' ta Rude." Reno lifted his head.

"He isn't answering though." Gareth raised an eyebrow.

"He doesn't have too. I know what he's thinkin'. I can read his mind like a book." Reno tapped his head knowingly.

"Would you say he's accurate when he's 'reading your mind'?" Rude looked up from his book.

"Most of the time." He rolled his eyes at the wink Reno sent him. "He hasn't figured out that I want some peace and quiet yet though."

"I was quiet for hours yo!" Reno answered indignantly.

"You were snoring." Rude turned a page.

"Shit yo! I can't help that!" Reno sat up and turned to face Rude. Rude snorted and Reno scowled, "It's not funny! I can't help it!" Rude smiled, "Shut up!" Reno frowned.

"He didn't say anything." Gareth watched the exchange with confusion.

"He doesn't have to. I can read his mind remember?" Reno tapped his head with a grin. Rude snorted, "Hush you!"

Gareth chuckled, "That is seriously the weirdest thing ever Reno. He doesn't say a word yet you've got your panties in a twist about what you think he meant."

"Leave my panties outta this!" Reno frowned and faced Gareth.

Gareth grinned and leaned on Reno's desk. "But I _like_ your panties Reno."

Reno blushed and Rude had to choke back a laugh. Reno rounded on him, "Put a sock in it Rude!"

Gareth chuckled again, "See what I'm saying? He didn't say a damn word."

"Didn't have to, mind reading powers, remember?" Reno grinned.

"If you're so good at reading minds what am I thinking right now?" Gareth grinned and leaned closer to Reno.

Reno blushed heavily and cleared his throat, "Don't know. You aren't Rude."

"So it only works on Rude?" Reno nodded vigorously, "Good thing. You think you're blushing now, I can only _imagine_ how red you'd turn if you could read my pervy thoughts."

Reno turned, if possible, even redder and turned a page in his book without reading it.

"Tseng says I need to keep an eye on you, make sure you do some work." Gareth seated himself on the edge of Reno's desk. "Think you can stay awake for me?"

"Maybe." Reno grinned cheekily.

Gareth leaned towards Reno until they were only inches away. "What if I make a deal with you?"

"What kinda deal?" Reno gulped.

"You stay awake and read that book and I'll talk to Tseng about him making you wear that tie." Gareth reached over and adjusted Reno's tie.

Reno cleared his throat, "Deal."

Gareth laughed and got off the desk and seated himself between the two, propping his feet on Reno's desk. "Tseng was right. I _can_ manipulate you."

Reno scowled and Rude didn't bother to hold back his laughter.

Reno unlocked his apartment with shaking fingers. He was once again skipping out on the Friday night drinking trip that the Turks went on and he regretted it. He hadn't had a drink in weeks and it was starting to drive him crazy. He threw open his window and lit up a cigarette, the text from the manual running through his head like a bad song.

He started when he heard a knock at the door. He stubbed his cigarette out on the window sill and slammed it shut before going to open the door.

"Hey red." Gareth leaned against his doorframe.

"I thought you went out with everyone else?" Reno held the door open hesitantly.

"Nope. You eat yet?" Gareth twirled his keys in his hand.

"No." Reno raised an eyebrow.

Gareth grinned, "Well lets get goin' then!" Gareth grabbed Reno by the tie and pulled him out of the apartment.

"Whoa easy Gareth!" Reno followed obediently, shutting the door behind himself.

"Sorry red, just excited." Gareth smiled sheepishly and let go of Reno's tie instead throwing an arm around his shoulders.

"Why? We're just going out to eat." Reno shoved a hand in his pocket.

"Yes but we're going out to eat _together_ red." Gareth wiggled his eyebrows at Reno.

Reno rolled his eyes, "Is it really _that_ exciting?"

"Yes it is." Gareth grinned. "I talked to Tseng about the tie."

"And?" Reno allowed his hopes to rise.

"He said you can stop wearing the tie when the flying lessons stop." Gareth pulled Reno closer. "Personally red I _like_ the tie. I can use it to my advantage."

"I _don't_ like the tie." Reno frowned good-naturedly.

Gareth let Reno go and pushed him into the elevator. "You like my advantage and you know it."

**Author's Note: I know this is really really short and I'm sorry! *dodges fruit* I'll make the next one longer I promise! Maybe I can use the temptation for a longer chapter as incentive for reviews? :3 **


	16. Chapter 16

Reno sat at the table feeling horribly self-conscious in front of the dark haired man seated across from him. They had ordered and were waiting on their food and so far neither of them had spoken. Gareth just sat and smiled kindly at Reno, apparently reveling in his discomfort and Reno just toyed with his tie and wondered just how long he had left before he could burn it.

Finally Gareth broke the uncanny silence, "So Reno, is this the part where we sit and wait for you to get comfortable with the fact that you're out with me or is this the part where I start making light conversation about topics that neither of us care about?"

Reno laughed nervously, "I say topics neither of us care about."

"Not going to get comfortable then?" Gareth's eyes sparkled in amusement.

"Don't think so." Reno could feel his heart hammering in his chest and he was starting to hate the organ.

"Alrighty then, " Gareth chuckled, "wanna talk about the weather?"

"Sounds good." Reno adjusted his tie, trying to loosen the stranglehold it had on his neck.

"It's rather chilly out lately." Gareth grinned.

"I guess." Reno shrugged.

"Supposed to rain tomorrow. That'll mess up your flight lessons yes?" Gareth sipped at his water, not taking his eyes off Reno.

"Gotta learn to fly in it sometime." Reno toyed with his glass.

"I guess so." Gareth leaned forward, "Why are you so uncomfortable red?"

Reno cleared his throat, "Never been out to dinner with someone who isn't Rude without an agenda."

"I guess." Gareth grinned, "So you've never been on a date before?"

"I've been on dates," Reno blushed, "but there's always been the expectation of payment from one side or the other."

Gareth raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

Reno sighed, "I'm guessing Tseng filled you guys in on some of my past right? The parts he knew?"

"Yeah," Gareth sat back, "He gave us a report on what he thought we needed to know. At the moment all I really know is that you worked for Corneo and lived in the slums with Rude and his mom after Shinra met up with you the first time."

"You got the nice version then." Reno ran a hand through his hair.

"So what parts did he leave out?" Gareth leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands.

"The part where I had to whore myself out to get money, working at the materia shop didn't pay as much as I made Rude and Fay think it did. Everyone pulled their weight but I had to pull a little harder to make sure ends met." Reno didn't meet Gareth's gaze.

"I understand your discomfort then." Gareth cleared his throat.

"Yeah..." Reno trailed off.

The waiter brought their food and broke the tension created by Reno's awkward confession.

"So red, I've delved into your personal life. Your turn to take a dig at mine." Gareth took a bite of his chicken.

Reno knew his question immediately, "Why did you single me out?"

Gareth grinned mischievously, "You're cute, obnoxious, don't take shit from anybody, and you manage to make everyone love you even when they hate you."

Reno shook his head. "That last bit makes no sense."

Gareth sniggered, "It makes plenty of sense when you know just who I'm talking about."

"Who loves me even though they hate me?" Reno asked through a mouthful of food.

Gareth grinned, "Tseng."

"Tseng?" Reno snorted.

"You heard me, Tseng!" Gareth took a bite of food nonchalantly, "I had to mark a lot of territory where you're concerned."

"You're serious?" Reno cocked an eyebrow.

"I am." Gareth's eyes twinkled with mirth.

"What do you mean you had to mark a lot of territory?" Reno asked as he tried to continue eating.

"I mean I had to scare a few people off of ya." Gareth grinned, "Had to slap Jareth in the balls first, he was ready to jump you the second you walked in. Had to make sure Ellie didn't try and make you one of her regular one-nighters either. Hate to say it but she's a major slut most of the time. A good Turk but a total whore." He took a sip of water, "With Tseng I just had to show him which one of us you liked better. Today was the perfect example of who you like more. That and the whole rope issue. You notice that he hasn't even mentioned it yet? He replaced it without saying a word to you. If anyone else did that to equipment, even if it _was_ just a shitty piece of rope, Tseng'd have his foot so far up their ass they'd be choking on it."

Reno shook his head in disbelief, "I think you've got it mixed up yo. Tseng _can't_ like me."

"Yes he can and yes he does." Gareth chuckled, "You're projecting your feelings onto him. You don't like him, so you don't think he can like you. What do you think of him?"

Reno frowned and ate his food without tasting it, "Yo when he's not busy shoving a stick up someone else's ass he's got one rammed up his own."

Gareth chuckled, "Once you get used to him he's not that bad. I kinda liked him for awhile actually." Gareth snorted, "_That_ faded fast."

Reno raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "You liked Tseng?"

"Sure did. Thought he was the greatest thing ever." Gareth laughed and shook his head, "He's not much older than me and he was pretty good for me after Eric died. Kept me from going crazy."

"Eric?" Reno asked.

"That guy I told you about? My best friend who got himself shot?"

"Oh." Reno cleared his throat. "Damn." He laughed nervoulsy, "I could never picture you guys together yo."

"Can you picture us together?" Gareth looked at Reno, fork in his mouth.

Reno blushed, "Yeah."

Gareth grinned, "Good for me." He took the check from the waiter without taking his eyes off Reno.

"Yo how old are you?" Reno cocked his head to the side.

"Twenty. Not much older than you, not much younger than Tseng." Gareth grinned and stood up.

Reno got up too, "How old is Tseng?"

"Twenty-six." Gareth looped his arm around Reno's waist and pulled him out of the restaurant.

"He's twenty-six and he's second in command?" Reno's jaw dropped.

"The bastard works hard." Gareth shrugged.

"Holy hell!" Reno looped the arm Gareth had pinned against him around the older man's waist. "Yo I figured he was thirty or something! How come Matt or Brandon aren't second in command? They're older than Tseng! Nasira is too!"

"I heard that Matt was pissed about it at first but he got over it pretty quick. Now it's just an accepted fact that Tseng is the best Turk we have. He's definitely the guy I want around to tell me what to do when the shit hits the fan. If you haven't noticed he's a lot harder to shake up than everyone else. He doesn't shove his emotions out on his sleeve like Matt, he doesn't get pissed at the drop of a pin like Nasira, he doesn't consider himself superior to every other human being like Brandon, he doesn't whore himself out like Ellie, he doesn't act like an overexcited puppy like Jareth and he has more common sense than either of us. The only other person as calm and collected as Tseng is Rude. I've never seen two people more alike in my life." Gareth laughed, "I wonder if they realize how perfectly matched they are?"

"Nope. Rude hasn't said a word to me about any feelings he has for Tseng." Reno shrugged.

"You haven't gleaned anything from his thoughts either? Gareth pulled Reno closer.

Reno laughed, "Nope. I'm pretty sure they're both oblivious to that fact yo. At least Rude is."

Gareth chuckled, "Oh well, it would've been a match made in heaven though."

"I don't think so yo." Reno sniggered.

"Why not?" Gareth calmly led the way to their apartments.

"I don't think a relationship with two people who are both stubborn as hell would work ya know?" Reno frowned as they reached his apartment. _Right_ when he was starting to get comfortable again.

"So red," Gareth wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "Do I get a kiss goodnight?"

Reno's face flushed and before he could respond Gareth had his lips trapped in a hungry kiss. When they broke apart Reno was panting slightly and his face matched his hair. Gareth was in a similar condition, although he wasn't quite as red.

"See you tomorrow Reno." Gareth winked and strolled down the hall to his apartment.

"Y-yeah." Reno stuttered and unlocked his apartment with shaking fingers. He _really _ needed a cigarette before bed.

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who's reading and reviewing! I really appreciate the comments! I'm trying to update this as often as I can so forgive me if a few chapters are short. ^^ If I felt like I had all the time in the world you'd be getting hundred page long chapters. **


	17. Chapter 17

When Reno reached the roof he found it empty. He walked to the helicopter with a frown, wondering if Tseng was waiting for him inside it. Tseng had gotten used to how early Reno showed up and took measures to get there before him. Reno hadn't been able to beat Tseng to the roof since his first lesson and he knew it was odd for anyone to be earlier than Tseng.

He walked around the empty chopper with a frown and found a piece of paper taped to the passenger door. He ripped it down and read it.

_ Reno,_

_ The President called an emergency meeting so I will be unable to attend our flight lesson this morning. You have my apologies for the inconvenience. We shall re-schedule todays lesson for this evening at five o'clock. Do not be late._

_ Tseng_

_ P.S.- Don't try to 'spring me' from today's meeting. If you decide to ignore this warning note that after your last prank they've started checking the vents._

Reno laughed and shoved the piece of paper into his pocket. He ran to the stairs and sprinted down three at a time. When he reached his floor he was out of breath and had to lean against the wall. He then walked to his room and grabbed his workout clothes before jogging to the elevator.

When he entered the gym it was strangely empty. He figured that most of the other Turks were either hung-over or doing paperwork and he was delighted at the prospect of having the entire gym to himself.

Tseng entered the gym with a towel over his shoulder, intent on working off the extra energy being stuck in the stuffy meeting room had left him with. He smirked when he saw a familiar splash of red struggling under a set of weights. "What are you doing?"

Reno grunted and tried to push the bar off his chest, "Help!"

Tseng chuckled, "Looks like you need some."

Reno panted and pushed up on the bar as hard as he could, "Please Tseng it's crushing me!"

Tseng chuckled and lifted the weight from Reno's arms and set it on the rack. "You're not supposed to lift without a spotter. How long have you been stuck under this?"

Reno let his throbbing arms fall to either side of him, the tips of his fingers brushing the floor. "For freakin' ever yo."

Tseng leaned against the bar and looked down at Reno, "Did you work yourself up to this weight or start off here?"

"Worked my way up." Reno panted as his arms swung limply at his sides.

"What else have you done today?" Tseng cocked his head to one side.

"Your mom." Reno grinned cheekily.

Tseng sighed and shook his head, "Can we leave my mother out of this for once?"

"Why? I happen to like your mom. Real nice lady." Reno sniggered.

Tseng snorted, "If you want to get into your mom jokes I can outdo you."

Reno grinned and licked his lips, "Oh really? Is that a challenge?"

Tseng grinned back, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "Does it sound like one?"

Reno's face broke into a wide smile, "You're on!"

"Your mom's so fat I had to take a train and two busses just to get on her good side." Tseng grinned down at his adversary.

"Your mom's so ugly her pillow cries at night." Reno chuckled.

"Your mom's so stupid she wouldn't know up from down if she had three guesses." Tseng sat at the bench beside Reno's.

Reno placed his hands behind his head, "Your mom's so fat she could sell shade."

Tseng laughed, "Your mom's so fat her cereal bowl has a lifeguard."

Reno grinned, "Your mom's so fat she doesn't have a doctor, she has a groundskeeper."

Tseng had to pause for a laugh before continuing, "Your mom's so fat when she goes dancing she makes the band skip."

Reno laughed, "Your mom's so fat every time she wears heels she strikes oil."

"Your mom's so stupid it took her an hour to make minute rice." Tseng crossed his arms in front of his chest and grinned at his giggling opponent.

"Your mom's so old the candles cost more than the cake." Reno stammered through giggles.

"Your mom was such an ugly baby her parents had to feed her with a slingshot." Tseng chuckled.

"Your mom's so ugly, your father's breath smells like shit 'cause he'd rather kiss her ass." Reno sat up.

Tseng was bent double with laughter, "Your mom's so ugly they push her face through the dough to make monster cookies."

Reno choked on his laughter, "Yo your moms so fat they had to kill three cows to get enough leather for her shoes."

Tseng wiped tears of laughter from his eyes, "Your mom's so fat when she got off the carousel the horse limped for a week."

Reno stammered, "Your mom," He couldn't stop laughing long enough to get the words out, "Yo-your m-mom-"

"Give up?" Tseng clutched his stomach as it cramped from laughter.

"Never!" Reno wiped streaming eyes.

"What are you guys doing?" Gareth walked up, staring at the two as if they were crazy.

"Having a 'your mom' war." Reno grinned up at him.

Gareth frowned, "Why?"

"Sounded like a good idea." Tseng shrugged, still chuckling.

Gareth humphed, "I've been looking for you all day Reno. Have you been hiding in here this whole time?"

Reno stretched, "Not hiding yo, I was working out but I got stuck under my weights."

Gareth grinned, "You would manage to get stuck."

"Don't I always?" Reno grinned and jerked his thumb in the direction of the new rope dangling from the ceiling.

"Wanna try it again?" Gareth leaned against Reno's weight set.

"Are you gonna catch me?" Reno's eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Maybe." Gareth winked, "Do you plan on falling?"

"Nope." Reno jumped up and jogged to the rope.

Gareth turned around, "What's the big idea Tseng?"

Tseng shrugged, "It was harmless fun Gareth."

"Harmless fun? We both know that's not what you had in mind." Gareth frowned.

Tseng bristled, "Don't accuse me when I haven't done anything Gareth."

"I'm accusing you _before_ you do anything." Gareth snarled.

Tseng stood up, "I have _no_ intention of _doing_ anything."

Gareth huffed, "Stop fooling yourself. Just keep your hands off him."

Tseng frowned, his eyebrows knotting on his forehead, "I never touched him."

"Keep it that way." Gareth stalked off.

Reno frowned as he watched Tseng's facial expressions from across the room. "Yo what was that about?" He asked tentatively as Gareth walked up to him.

Gareth smiled, "It was nothing red." Gareth slapped Reno's backside, "Get that ass up the rope already!" Reno stuck his tongue out and grabbed the rope.

**Author's Note: I love your mom jokes and since chapter 9 I've been trying to work in a 'your mom'-fest. Let me know what you think! **

**Also: I edited that letter from Tseng. Thanks for the heads up Takebuo Ishimatsu!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: Yo I know I usually save this thing for the end but this time I'm gonna start off with it. I realized the other day just how neglectful I've been to poor Rude in the past few chapters and I've decided to make it up to him by centering this next chapter around him. **

Rude walked into the bar and sat himself at the table across from Matt while Jareth got their drinks, "Rough day?"

"More like a rough week." Matt frowned, "Been swamped in paperwork lately."

"That sucks." Rude agreed as Jareth walked back to the table, balancing a tray of drinks in his hands.

"It's a fuckin' zoo in here ain't it?" Jareth grinned as he placed the tray on the table and sat himself next to Rude.

"What the hell are these Jareth?" Matt picked up a glass and stared at it quizzically.

"Don't know what's in it but it's called a Chocobo's Delight." Jareth grinned and downed a glass of the purple-ish liquid, wincing as he did. "Holy hell!"

"Any good?" Rude grabbed a glass and sniffed it carefully.

"It'll put some hair on your chest." Jareth wiped his watering eyes.

"Best tell Nasira not to drink any then." Matt grinned as the woman in question walked up to their table, dragging a reluctant Eliza along with her.

"What can't I drink?" Nasira frowned as she took the open seat next to Matt.

"Those purple things. Jareth says they'll put hair on your chest." Matt grinned and threw an arm around her waist.

"You better drink some then." Nasira winked, "I like a hairy man."

"Save it for the bedroom guys." Eliza scowled as she sat on Matt's other side.

"What's your problem?" Jareth raised an eyebrow.

"She got turned down by that auburn haired Soldier over there." Nasira jerked her head in the direction of the man.

"The one in red?" Rude raised an eyebrow and looked over at the man currently slouched against the bar with a drink in one hand and a book in the other.

"That's the one." Nasira nodded and beckoned to a barmaid. "Bring a pitcher of booze please."

"That's why I love ya Sira." Matt grinned and kissed her on the cheek, "You don't give a damn what you're drinking so long as there's a lot of it."

"I think I see why you were rejected Ellie." Jareth grinned.

"Eliza." Eliza corrected automatically, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Suit yourself." Jareth sniggered, "Rude and I can talk about it."

"Like Rude ever says a damn word." Eliza scowled at him.

"Don't be a bitch Ellie." Rude grabbed a glass of Chocobo's Delight and sipped it carefully.

_"Now_ you talk." Eliza frowned. "I was beginning to think you were mute."

"Just because he doesn't hit on you like you think he should doesn't mean he can't talk." Jareth placed an arm on Rude's shoulder and leaned against him.

"Shut up Jareth." Eliza grabbed one of the drinks and downed it, not caring what it was.

"Make me." Jareth stuck his tongue out at her.

"So you know," Rude smirked, "I think it's become plainly obvious why he rejected you."

"Oh really?" Eliza snarled, "Just why do _you_ think I was rejected Rude?"

"One: you're a bitch. Two: his boyfriend is hotter than you." Rude grinned and downed the rest of his drink with a shudder.

"His _what_?" Eliza's jaw dropped as she looked over at the man snogging the Soldier she had tried to single out earlier.

"I assume it's his boyfriend seeing as they're comfortable enough to french about three minutes after he walked up." Rude chuckled triumphantly.

"Screw you Rude." Eliza grabbed another drink and stood up. "I'm gonna get wasted. See you fuckers tomorrow." She downed the drink and stomped away.

"Bye-bye Miss PMS." Jareth chuckled and grabbed another drink as Nasira's pitcher of beer was placed one the table.

"Thanks." Nasira grinned and poured herself a glass of the amber liquid.

"I get the feeling there's more going on with Eliza than I know?" Matt asked as Nasira started to sip at her drink.

"Yup." She licked her lips, "Gareth turned her down today."

"Did she not pick up that he likes Reno?" Jareth frowned.

"Guess not." Nasira shrugged, "She doesn't take rejection well at all."

"Doesn't get rejected enough to know how to handle it." Rude grabbed for another Chocobo's Delight.

"Those things are strong as hell Rude." Jareth's jaw dropped as Rude downed the glass.

"If you plan on catching up to me I suggest you order some more then." Rude chuckled as Jareth grabbed for the last glass of purple liquid.

"If you two are gonna have another drinking contest you can find your own ways home." Matt chuckled, "I'm not gonna play baby-sitter tonight."

Rude sagged under Jareth's weight as he tried to pull his inebriated friend down the sidewalk. They were both drunk out of their minds and Rude was having difficulties sobering up. "Don't go limp on me Jare."

"I'm standin' tall as a post for ya Rude." Jareth slurred drunkenly as he shuffled his feet down the sidewalk.

"A rotten post." Rude tottered unevenly down the narrow walkway.

Jareth giggled, "Some night eh?"

"Yeah." Rude agreed. He tried to rack his alcohol muddled brain for the cause of his current predicament but couldn't find one. He remembered that most of the Turks had been at the bar. Only three had been missing. Reno had skipped out as usual so that he would be sober for his flying lesson and Gareth had skipped with him and, Rude noted with distaste, was probably trying to get in Reno's pants again. He didn't know why this bothered him and his head was too foggy for him to try and figure it out. Tseng never showed up at the bar on Friday's and Rude was pretty sure that the man was anti-social.

"Are you listenin' babe?" Jareth lightly poked Rude in the side.

"Don't call me babe." Rude slurred.

"Whateva Rudey." Jareth giggled and tried to stand up straighter, "I asked if ya wanna come back to my apartment with me."

Rude hefted Jareth into the elevator with a strained grunt, "Ya sure as hell can't make it by yerself." Rude slumped against the side of the elevator and pushed drunkenly at the buttons while Jareth clung to him as if his life depended on it.

"Ya mean _you_ can't make it ta _your_ apartment by yerself." Jareth ran a hand down Rude's chest.

Rude groaned as the elevator jerked into motion, his head was spinning wildly, "I don' think I can."

"You should stay with me tanight." Jareth leaned his head against Rude's chest, hiccuping slightly as the elevator slid to a stop.

Rude slung Jareth's arm around his shoulder and staggered out of the elevator. "We are so fuckin' drunk."

"Is tha a bad thing?" Jareth struggled to put one foot in front of the other, his legs tangling together.

Rude tried to read the numbers on the doors but all he could see were shiny blurs. He usually stayed sober enough to get home but tonight he had overindulged.

"Ya passed it." Jareth grabbed onto Rude's jacket an tugged.

"Passed wha?" Rude placed a hand on the wall to steady himself and looked back down the row of doors that were shifting in and out of focus.

"We gotta go back a door." Jareth tugged on Rude's jacket again and Rude took a shaky step back.

Rude clutched the doorknob desperately as he tried to keep his vision steady, "This un?"

"Yeah." Jareth nodded and pressed a hand against the door.

Rude turned the handle and staggered inside the dark apartment, searching the wall blindly for a light switch.

"Yer_ waaaaaaaaaaaaay_ drunker than I am." Jareth giggled and shut the door behind them.

"I drank ya under the table." Rude placed both hands on the wall and continued looking for the evasive switch.

"Then how come yer drunker'n me?" Jareth slurred and reached around Rude to flick the switch.

"Dunno." Rude blinked fiercely as the light seemed to attack from all sides.

"Comeon babe." Jareth grabbed Rude's shirt and pressed him back against the wall.

"Don' call me-" Rude was cut off by Jareth's lips pressing against his and a warm tongue entering his mouth. He found himself kissing back greedily, pulling Jareth's warm slumping form closer as he did.

When they broke apart Jareth started to fumble with the buttons on Rude's shirt, "Gotta get ya outta this thing."

"Yeah..." Rude bent down and pressed his mouth against Jareth's again, craving the warm sweet boozy taste.

Jareth moaned against his mouth and Rude noticed that he was already hard beneath his clothes. He pulled at the buttons on Jareth's shirt and eventually ripped the shirt open in impatience. Jareth didn't protest and slid Rude's shirt and jacket off his shoulders before he slipped his hands under Rude's belt and undid his pants with practiced ease. Rude groaned and swayed a bit as he kissed a path down Jareth's neck. Jareth pulled back and staggered unevenly to the bedroom, pulling Rude along with him by his waistband.

Rude groaned and threw a hand over his eyes as soft morning light beat against his eyelids. He muttered a few curses and slowly cracked his eyes open to stare blankly at the ceiling. He frowned and looked down at the blankets, noticing that neither belonged to him. He tried to sit up but the motion caused his head to swim and his stomach to lurch painfully. He heard a small snore and looked to his left, finding the source of the noise to be a slender tousle haired brunette sleeping soundly next to him. He immediately racked his brain to try and remember the events of the previous night but the last thing he remembered was Jareth ordering another round of Chocobo's Delight.

He rolled to his side and watched Jareth sleep while his head pounded mercilessly against his skull. He spotted a watch on Jareth's wrist and groaned as he read the time. "Eight?" Jareth snorted in his sleep and rolled over.

Rude tried to sit up again and let himself rest against the headboard. He spotted several articles of clothing strewn carelessly about the room and noticed for the first time that he was completely naked except for his left sock which was dangling from his foot. He kicked it off and let his head fall back against the headboard. He stared at the ceiling and tried to remember the events of the night before.

"Rude?" Jareth's sleepy mumble roused him from his thoughts.

"Yeah?" Rude looked down.

"We should never drink that many Chocobo thingys again." Jareth grabbed his head with a pained expression.

"I agree." Rude groaned as his head swam.

"How much do you remember?" Jareth asked after a while.

"Not much." Rude admitted, "Only thing I can clearly remember right now is you ordering us another round."

Jareth chuckled, "I can remember more than that. You must've been really drunk."

Rude chuckled, "I was."

"So you don't remember..." Jareth let the sentence dangle.

"Don't remember what?" Rude looked down into timid brown eyes.

"The sex?" Jareth asked with a hopeful voice.

Rude frowned in concentration. He sighed, "No."

"Damn." Jareth winced and grabbed his head, "So you know, it was _really_ good."

Rude chuckled, "I hoped so."

Jareth chuckled, "Next time lets be less drunk okay?"

Rude nodded. He didn't know if he wanted a next time. He couldn't even remember the first time.

"You okay?" Jareth winced and sat up.

"Yeah. You?" Rude didn't protest as Jareth leaned against his shoulder.

"Head hurts like hell and everything else is pleasantly sore." Jareth chuckled.

Rude humphed quietly, "Same here."

"Wanna get some breakfast?" Jareth nuzzled his head into Rude's arm.

"Sounds good." Rude felt goosebumps creep up on his arm as Jareth's breath brushed across his skin.

"Wanna go out or stay in?" Jareth looked up.

"In. It's not as noisy that way." Rude grinned down at Jareth.

Jareth giggled, "Hope you like toast." He pressed a chaste kiss to Rude's lips and crawled out of bed.

Rude got up and tried to sort his clothes out from the random piles on the floor. "Shower?"

"It's on your left. Towels are under the sink." Jareth said as he slid into a pair of sweatpants.

"Thanks." Rude found his pants and determined to find the rest of his clothes when he was clean.

Rude walked out of the bathroom half dressed and slightly damp. He walked through the living room, grabbing his jacket and shirt from the floor as he went, and followed the smell of cooking to the kitchen. "Jareth?"

"In here Rude." Jareth called out as Rude rounded the corner. "Found some eggs, ya want some?"

"Sure." Rude sat down and began buttoning his shirt as Jareth laid a plate in front of him, "Thanks Jareth."

"No problem." Jareth sat down next to Rude with a smile. "Feeling any better?"

"Loads better." Rude nodded and took a bite of his eggs. "You?"

"I'm a professional when it comes to hangovers." Jareth sniggered and rested his head on his hand. "Get over them pretty fast."

Rude chuckled and ate, "This is good."

"Thanks." Jareth grinned widely as Rude ate his toast. "Toast is pretty hard to fuck up."

"I always burn mine." Rude laughed.

Jareth jumped up, "Like I'm burning my eggs right now?" He limped to the stove.

"Kinda like that." Rude laughed as Jareth pulled the pan off the burner.

"That was close." Jareth sighed with relief as he gently scraped two slightly charred eggs onto his plate.

Rude chuckled, "I've cooked worse and eaten worse."

"Worse how?" Jareth sat back down next to Rude.

"Reno can't cook for shit." Rude grinned and wiped a few crumbs from his chin, "I'm not exactly sure what it was he was trying to make but it only vaguely resembled food once it reached my plate."

"And you still ate it?" Jareth snorted.

"Had to humor him." Rude chuckled, "He was so damned proud that he actually made lunch."

"Was it any good?" Jareth licked butter from his lips.

"It was burnt enough that it didn't taste like food anymore so it was pretty easy to choke down." Rude snickered, "I don't think I would've been able to eat it if he _hadn't_ burnt it."

"That bad?" Jareth laughed.

"That bad." Rude smiled and went to wash his plate.

Jareth laughed and came up behind him, dropping his plate into the sink and wrapping his arms around Rude's waist, "Don't worry about washing it babe, I can take care of that later."

Rude turned, allowing Jareth to press him against the counter, "I noticed you've got a limp."

"Consider it a testament to your abilities." Jareth winked and pressed a kiss to Rude's lips.

Rude deepened the kiss, allowing the taste of his breakfast to be replaced by the sweeter taste of Jareth.

**Author's Note Continued: Let me know what you think of the 'Rude centered' chapter. Hopefully I didn't totally fail this one. R&R please!**


	19. Chapter 19

Reno and Rude stood in Tseng's office dusted from head to foot in dirt. "You wanted to see us?"

Tseng gritted his teeth as small clouds of dirt fell around their feet onto his previously pristine carpet, "Would you like to tell me why you are in the state you are in now?"

Reno cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow, "But you were there."

"I need a refresher." Tseng's fists clenched on his desk.

Reno sighed, "Okay, we were out on mission and were supposed to blow up this dude and his house. We tied him up and placed some explosives near the load bearing walls and..." Reno shuffled uncomfortably and paused.

"And then?" Tseng purposefully looked at his desk, not risking a look at the filthy pair in front of him to ease the desire to strangle them both.

Rude cleared his throat, "Reno went back in to get his EMR."

"Why?" Tseng's jaw felt like it was going to break from all the pressure he was using grinding his teeth.

"You said if I lost another one you'd 'tan my hide'. I really didn't want to find out what that entailed." Reno shoved his hands in his pockets and eyed the floor.

"I went in to pull him out before the building blew." Rude looked at Tseng with a stoic expression on his face, cracked lopsided dirt covered sunglasses hiding the fear in his eyes.

"I turned my back for one minute. One _measly_ little minute and you two are staggering away from the burning rubble, Reno waving that stupid EMR above his head and shouting, 'It's fine Tseng I got it!'. Tseng sneered, "What the _hell_ were you thinking when you did that?" Tseng stood and leaned towards the two menacingly.

Reno cleared his throat, "I didn't want to have you 'tan my hide'?"

Tseng face-palmed and groaned, "Do your realize how badly you could have been injured?"

"Yes." Reno shifted uncomfortably.

"Do you also realize how badly Rude could have been injured trying to rescue you?" Tseng kept his hand over his face.

"Yes." Reno looked anywhere but at Tseng, guilt shinning in his eyes.

"Do you also realize that you are going to be _swimming_ in paperwork?" Tseng kept his voice threateningly monotone.

"Yes." Reno looked at Rude, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

"Get cleaned up and go think about what you've done or something." Tseng growled and sat down, "Send Gareth and Jareth in. I need to speak to them about how they were supervising you." Tseng waved his hand to show them they were dismissed.

"Understood." Rude grabbed Reno's arm and pulled him out of the room.

"How'd it go?" Gareth walked up, lightly coated in dust.

"He's pissed." Reno shook his head, dust flying in all directions.

Gareth groaned, "Damn. Figured he would be."

Jareth ran a hand through his hair, "How much trouble did you get in?"

"We're going to be swimming in paperwork. I think he's too pissed to think of a punishment." Reno sighed.

"It is our fault." Jareth pinched the bridge of his nose, "We shouldn't have let you go back in."

"We watched them set the timer Jareth it said they had five minutes." Gareth frowned, "They should have had enough time."

"Maybe we set them wrong?" Reno scratched his head.

"I watched you set them." It was Jareth's turn to frown, "I've been working with bombs for years and you set them perfectly. Maybe you just set them a little _too_ perfectly."

"Better get in there." Rude interjected, "He's going to break his jaw if he keeps gritting his teeth like that."

Jareth grinned sheepishly, "We'll try to get you out of as much trouble as we can." He tiptoed and kissed Rude, "You go get cleaned up, I'll meet you at your apartment okay?"

Rude nodded, "See you then."

"i better give him back up." Gareth grinned and pecked Reno on the cheek before following Jareth.

They walked towards the elevator in silence, a trail of dirt and ruble following them. "Think Tseng will give us an actual punishment?" Reno slouched against the wall of the elevator.

"No." Rude reached a hand up and brushed some dirt off the top of his head. "It was our first screw up. At least on _that_ scale of screw up."

Reno sighed, "Hope you're right."

"He looked like he was seconds away from sticking your EMR where the sun don't shine though." Rude grinned.

Reno laughed, "Kinky thought."

"Until he turns it on." Rude chuckled.

Reno grimaced, "Yeah, not kinky anymore."

Rude laughed, "_Gaia_ I thought we were dead."

"When the charges went off or when Tseng got all calm and quiet-like?" Reno was starting to get over the shock of almost dying and was having trouble comprehending the fact that he had only barely made it out alive.

"Both." Rude felt his composure start to slip.

"You feelin' like you're about to fall over too?" Reno grabbed the wall for support.

"I think it's finally starting to hit us how close that was." Rude pulled his sunglasses off and looked at them.

"Those saved your life you know." Reno looked at the glasses in awe, "I'm pretty sure you woulda lost your eye if they hadn't been between you and that brick."

"Yeah." Rude held the glasses tightly in his hand, "Gotta get another pair."

"Hey Rude?" Reno leaned his head back and let it rest on the wall.

"Yeah?" Rude tucked the glasses inside his ripped jacket.

"Thanks. I'm pretty sure I woulda died if you hadn't pulled me outta there." Reno smiled at Rude. "I owe ya one."

"You would have done the same for me." Rude grinned back.

"Doesn't make it any less amazing of you." Reno laughed as the elevator came to a stop. "The janitors are gonna _hate_ us."

Rude looked down at the trail he was leaving as he left the elevator, "How long do you think it will take to get clean?"

Reno looked down at his suit and frowned in concentration, "Three weeks."

Rude snorted, "You exaggerate."

"You won't say that when three weeks from now you go to clean your ears and find the last of the ruble dust." Reno grinned at him as the elevator doors started to slide shut, "Don't have too much fun once Jareth shows up."

"Same to you." Rude chuckled as Reno's smiling face disappeared behind elevator doors. He walked to his apartment and opened the door, his false calm still radiating from his body. He showered and got dressed before sliding into bed, his composure completely deteriorating into chocked sobs muffled by his pillow.

Jareth walked in while later, clean after taking a shower at his own apartment. "Rude?"

"In here." Rude mumbled into his pillow.

Jareth walked in and sat on the bed beside Rude, "You feelin' okay?"

"No." Rude grunted and rolled over, quickly drying his tears on his sleeve, "Almost died."

"I know." Jareth laid down by Rude and wrapped him in a hug, "You're okay though, every things fine."

"Not me." Rude shook his head with a sigh, "Almost didn't save Reno."

Jareth looked up at him, "But you did save him."

"Almost didn't." Rude wrapped an arm around Jareth's shoulders.

"Wanna talk about it? I know when I mess up talking about it makes me feel better." Jareth rubbed Rude's chest comfortingly, "It's like telling a dirty secret. Super embarrassing at first but afterwards you feel _loads_ better."

Rude chuckled, "He went in to get his EMR and I followed him because I thought he was going to get himself hurt. The guy had gotten his arms loose and was tampering with the timer, trying to turn it off and save his house. When I walked in Reno was fighting to get the timer from the guys hands while the guy tried to get Reno's EMR. I managed to punch the guy out but he had reset the timer while they were fighting and we didn't have a ton of time to get out." Rude sighed, "We turned tail and ran but the building exploded when we were about three feet away. Reno nearly had his head taken off by a piece of the wall and I got hit in the face with a brick. Those sunglasses you gave me saved my life by the way." Rude smiled down at Jareth in appreciation.

"Damn." Jareth blushed, "Didn't exactly think those would be life saving glasses or anything."

"They were." Rude grinned.

"You're welcome." Jareth snuggled up close to Rude's side, "You tired?"

"Very." Rude closed his eyes.

"Sleep sound good to you?" Jareth closed his eyes.

"Yeah." Rude readjusted the blankets to cover them both and then fell asleep.

Reno leaned against the wall for support as he made his way to his apartment. He threw everything he had in his pockets on the couch and shed his socks and shoes. He threw his jacket over the edge of the couch and staggered into the bathroom, turning on the scalding water and sat in the tub, still fully clothed. He let the water cascade over his body and pulled himself into a sitting fetal position.

Gareth knocked on Reno's apartment door for five minutes before impatience got the best of him and he let himself in. He shut the door behind him and placed his shoes by Reno's, emptying his own pockets onto the couch. He shed his jacket and set it down on the couch before following the small trail of dirt leading to Reno's bathroom. He pulled back the shower curtain to find Reno curled in on himself, hugging his knees to his chest. "Red?" Reno didn't respond. Gareth slipped off his uniform and climbed in behind Reno, cradling him to his chest and petting his hair, "It's okay red."

Reno shook his head, "Almost got him killed."

Gareth rubbed Reno's shoulder comfortingly, "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is!" Reno looked up, face streaked with dirt, tears, and water, "If I had just remembered to grab my stupid EMR everything would have gone fine."

"Everybody screws up Reno." Gareth smiled comfortingly.

"I don't _want_ to screw up like everybody else." Reno buried his head in Gareth's chest. "This was supposed to be an easy mission. How the hell am I gonna do the big missions if I fuck up the little ones?"

"You'll get used to the pressure red." Gareth rested his head on Reno's.

"I could've gotten him killed though Gareth." Reno wrapped his arms around Gareth and choked back a sob.

Gareth held him close, "You would never let that happen Reno."

"It wasn't a matter of whether or not I _let_ him die. Fact is he almost died and it's my fault." Reno started to shake.

Gareth sat him up and wiped his face off, "Red the fact is he didn't die. You both came close to death and escaped by the seat of your pants." Reno gave a sobbing laugh, "You're going to become very good friends with death as a Turk. Remember what I said before we left?"

"Listen to Tseng and everything will be okay?" Reno quoted dryly.

"Did everything turn out alright?" Gareth cupped Reno's face in his hands.

"Yes." Reno blinked water out of his eyes.

"See?" Gareth kissed Reno soundly, "Just remember one thing for me."

"What?" Reno hiccuped.

"Don't knock on deaths door, ring the bell and run away. He hates that." Gareth winked at him.

Reno laughed, "Good advice."

"Lets get you cleaned up red." Gareth grinned and started unbuttoning Reno's shirt, "you look like you've been rolling in mud."

"You like mud." Reno grinned as Gareth slid his sopping wet shirt off his shoulders.

"I don't like how it tastes though." Gareth grinned and wiped a spot on Reno's neck clean before nipping it.

Reno gasped and grabbed the soap, "We better wash up then."

Gareth pulled off his belt, "I think you're supposed to undress _before_ you get in the shower red."

Reno cleared his throat, "Wasn't thinking."

Gareth pulled off his pants and boxers in one fluid motion. "Don't worry red, I'll make sure you think about it next time." He licked Reno's collar bone with a rakish grin.

**Author's Note: Have I ever mentioned that I'm horrible with lemons? I can't write one without blushing and giggling like a school girl and they all sound terribly cheesy to me so I'm leaving this one here. Don't worry, the story will continue and maybe someday I'll feel comfortable enough to write a lemon but for now, you shall just have to use your imagination. ;)**


	20. Chapter 20

Reno fumbled with his tie, still unable to knot it properly even though Gareth, Tseng, and Rude had been trying to teach him for almost a month. He gave up and wrapped it around his head, securing it in a tight bow. He felt hands pull the tie off his head and heard Gareth click his tongue disapprovingly, "You still can't tie it red?"

Reno shook his head as Gareth wrapped his tie around his neck and knotted it deftly, "Do I have to wear it?"

"Tseng said you had to didn't he?" Gareth grinned and leaned down, capturing half sleeping lips in his.

Reno slumped forward and rested his head on Gareth's shoulder, "Too tired. Don wanna go."

Gareth chuckled and rubbed Reno's back, "You gotta go, you only have a few lessons left."

"Don care. Too tired." Reno whined pathetically as he closed his eyes.

Gareth laughed, "Think you're gonna be able to walk?"

"Maybe." Reno laced his fingers behind Gareth's neck, "If I say no will ya carry me?"

Gareth bent down and gave Reno a tender kiss, "Of course not."

Reno sighed, "Didn't think so."

Gareth chuckled and gave Reno one last kiss before pushing him towards the door, "Go take your lesson. I'll be waiting for you when you're done."

Reno walked slowly out of the apartment, "We need to start going to bed at a decent hour."

"We _did_ go to bed at a decent hour," Gareth winked at him, "We just didn't sleep." Reno rolled his eyes and walked out of the apartment.

Reno felt very tender as he walked, staggering slightly, his tired brain only barely functioning. He made it to the roof later than usual. Tseng was waiting by the chopper, impatience evident on his normally unreadable face. "Where have you been?"

"Sorry." Reno mumbled, "Had a late night." Reno stared to climb into the helicopter but Tseng stopped him.

"Did you go drinking?" Tseng glared at him suspiciously.

"No." Reno shook his head.

"Why can't you walk straight then?" Tseng pursed his lips, convinced that Reno was lying.

"I don't think you want to know." Reno chuckled, "I'm sober though I promise. Want me to say my alphabet backwards or something?" Reno took a breath and screwed up his eyes in concentration, "Z-Y-X-W-V-U-T-S-R-Q-P-"

Tseng slapped a hand over his mouth, "Not necessary. I just need a reason."

Reno pulled Tseng's hand off his mouth, "You're not gonna like the reason."

"Why not?" Tseng's eyes flashed with anger and impatience.

"It's pretty dirty." Reno grinned lewdly.

"Don't think I haven't heard stories like that before." Tseng snorted, amused in spite of himself.

Reno sniggered, "I can't walk straight because Gareth pounded me into the mattress so hard I think my legs might have dislocated."

Tseng facepalmed and let Reno get in the helicopter, "Sorry I asked."

"Do you want details Tsengy-poo? I can tell ya all about it!" Reno climbed into the chopper with an impish grin.

"Please refrain." Tseng climbed into the helicopter behind Reno.

"You sure?" Reno grinned, "I don't mind fillin' ya in."

"Just start the damn helicopter." Tseng shook his head with a chuckle.

"Sure thing boss." Reno grinned and did what he was told.

"Good lesson today eh Tseng?" Reno grinned as they climbed out of the chopper.

"For the most part." Tseng admitted, "I would like you to refrain from yelling at the birds though."

"They were in my way!" Reno frowned. "What was I supposed to do?"

"They're _birds_ Reno. They can't understand you. They don't know what, 'get the fuck outta the way!' means." Tseng sneered.

"Not my fault they don't speak English." Reno stretched lazily.

Tseng shook his head, "You only have a few lessons left."

"I know, I'm excited!" Reno practically skipped to the roof's exit. "First thing I'm gonna do is light my tie on fire and drop it out the side of the chopper!"

Tseng sighed and shook his head, "I figured that was your plan. Do you want to keep it so you can learn something else?"

"Like what?" Reno raised an eyebrow and opened the door and starting down the stairwell.

"I could teach you how to drive." Tseng offered with a hopeful tone.

"I thought you didn't like teaching me?" Reno sniggered.

"Those lessons have saved me from several of Reeve's stupid meetings. They also keep Veld off my case about how much work I'm doing." Tseng shrugged.

Reno stopped walking, "How much work are you- " Tseng stumbled into his back. They both yelled as they began to tumble down the stairs, a haphazard tangle of falling limbs. Reno felt himself crush Tseng beneath him several times before they finally came to a crashing halt on the landing, their heads cracking on the cold cement. Tseng tried to get off of Reno quickly but slumped forward with a groan, holding his head in pain. Reno groaned in pain as lights flashed before his eyes.

"What the _hell_ is going on!?" Reno turned his head toward the sound to see Gareth standing at the bottom of the stairs, mouth agape.

"Fell..." Reno groaned and scooted himself out from under Tseng who sat crouched, holding his head.

"Fell? You two looked like you were about five seconds away from having sex on the stairs!" Gareth stomped up the stairs and rounded on Tseng, "What did I tell you about touching him?"

"Not what it looks like." Reno groaned and held his head as his vision swam. His whole body hurt and he could feel several bruises rising on his arms and legs.

"Sure it isn't." Gareth growled, "What the hell were you doing then?"

"Fell down the stairs." Reno crouched forward with a groan, head in his hands.

"Why were you close enough to land like _that_ then?" Gareth stood in front of Reno, hands on his hips.

"Were walking down the stairs," Reno mumbled, "I stopped and he ran into me."

Gareth looked at him suspiciously, "I'll believe the falling, I don't believe that Tseng is clumsy enough to knock you both down the stairs."

Reno lifted his head, "You don't trust me?" He looked over at Tseng who had been in the same position since they landed, "Tseng you okay?"

"Nngggh..." was Tseng's pained reply.

Reno crawled over and lifted Tseng's head. He let him go with a frightened gasp, "Holy shit he's bleeding!"

"What?" Gareth crouched down next to Tseng and lifted his head by his pony-tail.

"Come on we gotta get him help!" Reno grabbed Tseng by the shoulders and started to heave him upright, collapsing with a yell when his own head throbbed painfully. "Help me Gareth!" He tried to pick Tseng up again.

"Fine." Gareth frowned and heaved Tseng roughly to his feet. "We're not done talking about this."

"Fine, whatever," Reno leaned against the wall and held his head, "Lets just get to a fuckin' doctor okay?" Gareth huffed and started to drag a bleeding Tseng down the stairs, Reno following slowly in their wake.

"Why don't you believe me?" Reno asked as a nurse wrapped a bandage around Tseng's head.

"Because I don't." Gareth scowled.

"I don't cheat." Reno scowled as a doctor shined a light in his eyes.

The doctor lowered his light, "You should be fine. You have a concussion and you'll be a little bruised but you should be okay. I'll do a few tests to make sure you don't have any broken bones and then you can go home."

"Thanks." Reno rubbed his head as the doctor started jotting notes on a clipboard, "How's Tseng?"

"He'll be fine. It's just a scratch and a concussion. We'll send him in for tests too." The doctor smiled kindly and walked away.

Gareth rounded on him, "Why do you care so much about what happens to Tseng hmmm?"

"He's my boss." Reno rubbed his throbbing head and glared at Gareth, "I can't believe you think I'd cheat on you with _him._ I _told_ you I don't like him like that."

"How do I know those flight lessons aren't more than that?" Gareth crossed his arms and glared back at Reno. "How do I know you two aren't get it on in the chopper?"

Reno glared at Gareth angrily, "You honestly think I'd do that? If I was all hot for Tseng then why would I complain about going to the lesson this morning? If I remember correctly it was _your_ name I was screaming last night, not his."

Gareth huffed and turned away, "I don't want you hanging around him."

"Why the hell are you so convinced that I'd cheat on you?" Reno frowned, hands balling into fists at his sides.

Gareth sighed, "I don't want to lose you."

"You're doin' a good job pushing me away right now." Reno scowled and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I'm sorry red but you gotta know what that looked like right? I walk up thinking I'll surprise you after your lesson and I see Tseng laying on top of you and you're both groaning. What the hell am I supposed to think?" Gareth sat on the exam table beside Reno.

Reno leaned on him, squinching his eyes shut as his head throbbed, "I get why ya were pissed at first but why do ya keep yellin' about it? I told ya what happened."

"I'm sorry." Gareth apologized again, wrapping an arm around Reno's shoulders.

"Ya have to be able ta trust me." Reno buried his head in Gareth's shoulder.

"I do trust you." Gareth insisted, "I don't trust _him._" He glared over his shoulder at Tseng.

"Aren't you the one who told me I have to trust him?" Reno sat up, pulling himself out of Gareth's embrace.

"Yeah but-" Gareth stammered.

"But nothing. Don't be a hypocrite! It's not like he's gonna do anything." Reno glared at Gareth, "If you don't trust me you can piss off!"

"Don't be mad!" Gareth put his hands up in defense, "It's not you I don't trust it's him!"

"Just go." Reno crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at the wall.

"Oh come on red!" Gareth begged, grabbing Reno by the shoulders, "I said I'm sorry!"

"I don't believe you." Reno pushed Gareth away, "Just go for awhile alright? Check back in when you're not bein' a total asshole."

Gareth scowled, "Fine, I will." He pecked Reno on the cheek and left, glaring daggers at Tseng the entire time.

Tseng cleared his throat, "Sorry to stir up trouble."

"It's not your fault he's being a paranoid ass." Reno growled. "How's your head?"

"Better." Tseng fingered the bandage around his head carefully, "Yours?"

"It's fine." Reno lied as his head throbbed painfully.

Tseng looked at him in amused disbelief, "Then why are they taking you in for tests?"

Reno snorted, grabbing his head as it throbbed, "Shut up! It's just a headache."

Tseng laughed, "Headache? I don't know about you but I feel like someone's smashing hammers on the inside of my skull."

"Accurate description." Reno laughed and rubbed his forehead.

**Author's Note: I know it seems like a lot of mindless chatter but it's setting the story up for some drama junk so be patient, there is actually some important junk in here that will be important later ;)**


	21. Chapter 21

Reno stomped up the stairs, taking care not to fall. He was pissed out of his mind and needed to vent. He pounded on Rude's door angrily, holding his head as the sound caused another painful throb. Rude answered the door with a bemused expression that quickly changed to concern, "Your head."

"I'll explain later. Got a minute?" Reno leaned on the door frame.

Rude opened the door wider and Jareth waved at Reno from the kitchen, "What's up Reno?"

"Need to talk to Rude." Reno scowled, not in the mood for Jareth's usual peppy antics. "In _private_." Reno emphasized the last word, hoping that Jareth would get the message.

"Do you mind?" Rude asked as Jareth stopped waving and pouted.

"Of _course_ not. You go right ahead." Jareth sneered, glaring daggers at Reno.

Rude nodded and walked out of the apartment, "Thanks."

Reno practically dragged Rude down the hall, "Sounded like he minded."

"He'll get over it." Rude shrugged. "Explain the injuries."

"Injuries? What makes you think there's more than one?" Reno paused his stampede to his apartment.

"I can see the bruises." Rude grabbed Reno's wrist and prodded a purpling patch of skin raising on his arm.

"Ow!" Reno jerked his arm back, "Those are part of the story!"

"Won't Gareth be in your apartment?" Rude raised an eyebrow as Reno fumbled with his keys.

"Not if he has any brains." Reno scowled and shoved the door open, flicking on the light as he kicked off his shoes.

Rude placed his shoes neatly by the door and shed his jacket before seating himself on the couch, "Explain."

Reno plopped himself down on the couch. "Tseng and I fell down the stairs."

Rude raised an eyebrow, "You fell down the stairs?"

"Yeah, he landed on top of me and then Gareth walked up and saw and now he thinks I'm trying to cheat on him. He refuses to believe that I have no feelings for Tseng no matter how many times I tell him there's nothing going on! He's being an asshole and a half about it too. What the hell did I do to make him think I'd cheat?" Reno sighed and Rude grunted in sympathy. "I just wish he would trust me ya know?"

Rude nodded sympathetically, "How's Tseng? He look as bad as you?"

Reno snorted, "Worse." Reno paused and then huffed in indignation, "Hey! I don't looked bad! I look amazing!"

Rude snorted, "You're black and blue."

"And red." Reno winked.

Rude chuckled, "Whatever color you are it looks painful."

Reno shrugged, "We better get used to getting hurt. This is mild compared to what I saw Matt come back with from his last patrol."

"You got to see him?" Rude raised an eyebrow, "I thought they weren't letting anyone in. Nasira was pissed."

"I got a glimpse of him as they were dragging him in." Reno ran a hand through his hair, "He was pretty messed up. Those gang people weren't joking around."

Rude grunted, "They never do."

They sat in reverent silence for a while. Reno inspecting himself for bruises and bumps and Rude sitting with his hands folded in his lap, deep in thought as he stared at the floor. "Think he'll recover?" Reno asked, unable to keep quiet for long.

"I'd be surprised if he didn't." Rude answered.

"Yeah..." Reno frowned and looked at the floor. "So what's up with Jareth? He didn't exactly seem happy to see me."

"He's been pissy lately. I don't know why." Rude shrugged.

"Want me to figure it out yo?" Reno cracked his knuckles, "I could pull some of that sneaky crap we're learning and follow him around."

"Already did." Rude sighed.

"And?" Reno asked hopefully.

"He cheated." Rude said bluntly, his face stoic.

"Are you serious!?" Reno yelled, anger plain in his voice.

"Yes." Rude grunted.

"Why are you still with him then?" Reno stood up and began pacing the room.

"I could be wrong. I only saw him do it once. It could be a one time deal." Rude watched Reno pace with an emotionless gaze.

"So what if it's a one time deal? Cheating is cheating!" Reno growled, balling his hands into fists at his sides.

"Benefit of the doubt." Rude shrugged, "He was a little drunk when it happened, he doesn't know I know." Rude lowered his glasses and glared pointedly at Reno. "He's not _going_ to know that I know either."

Reno sighed and ran a hand through his hair, wincing as his hand found a new bump, "Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Good." Rude leaned back in his chair. "Let's talk about something else."

"Like what?" Reno snorted.

Rude shrugged, "We've got patrol together tomorrow. You're chopper lessons are almost done so you can start drinking on Friday again soon. I got a license. We've got a lot of topics to choose from."

"You got a license?" Reno put his hands on his hips, "When?"

"Last week." Rude grunted, "You've been busy lately and we haven't had patrol together since we screwed up that bombing so I haven't had a chance to tell you."

Reno laughed, "We better not fuck up our patrol."

"I agree." Rude toyed with the piercings in his ears, "Tseng already has us covered in paperwork because of that. I don't think I'll survive if he assigns us any more."

"I'm just not gonna do it." Reno sniggered and sat down.

"That's a bad idea." Rude adjusted his sunglasses, recovering his eyes.

"What's he gonna do about it?" Reno huffed.

"Throw more work at you." Rude huffed, already deigning to do Reno's work when he wasn't looking.

Reno shrugged again, "I'll take whatever he throws at me."

"You always do." Rude chuckled, "And I get stuck with the overflow."

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**Author's Note: I know, more boring drama junk. Don't worry, this **_**is**_** going somewhere I promise! I didn't just drop all the exciting stuff. It's coming soon I promise! Please be patient with me.**


	22. Chapter 22

Rude walked back to his apartment after he convinced Reno to go back to the doctor and get some pain killers. He was sick of watching his best friend cringe in pain every time he said anything and it was obvious that some of the bruises were throbbing and nasty. It had taken about an hour for him to try and talk Reno into it and in the end he had practically dragged Reno down to the doctor and had forced him to ask for a prescription. The thought of the pouty ill-tempered red-head left a smile on his face that lasted until he opened the door to his apartment.

"You have a good time?" Jareth sneered from the couch, arms folded in front of his chest and a scowl marring his features.

"Of course." Rude responded to Jareth's question the same way he would to anyone else and for some reason his honesty pissed Jareth off.

Jareth's eyes narrowed, "Why are you so cold to me?"

Rude raised an eyebrow, "I'm the same to you as I am to everyone else."

"Not to Reno." Jareth stood up, hands balling into fists at his sides, "You _always _smile for him! You sound happy when he's around! Why don't you sound happy around me?"

Rude shrugged, "He's my best friend, of course he makes me happy."

"And I don't?" Jareth growled advancing on Rude.

"Not right now." Rude's eyes narrowed behind his shades as Jareth planted himself in front of him.

"Why not?" Jareth snarled and grabbed the front of Rude's shirt, "Why don't I make you happy? I try so damned hard just to make you smile at me!"

Rude rolled his eyes, "I do smile for you Jareth."

Jareth's eyes brimmed with tears. "It's him isn't it? You're gonna leave me for him aren't you!"

Rude blinked, "He's dating Gareth."

"You're trying to break them up! I know you are! That's why you try to spend so much time with Reno! You want to keep him away from Gareth!" Jareth choked, fisting the front of Rude's shirt "I know you love him Rude! I know you do!"

"Why am I with you then?" Rude untangled Jareth's hand from his shirt. "Give me one good reason why I would stay with you if I loved him."

"I don't know!" Jareth tried to pull his hand from Rude's grasp, "I just know you don't smile at anyone else!"

"I smile at you all the time." Rude corrected, Jareth's accusations were starting to anger him.

"Not the way you smile at him!" Jareth's tears started to spill from his eyes.

"You're confusing the 'I-love-you' smile with the 'you've-been-my-best-friend-for-years' smile." Rude glared evenly at Jareth, his voice betraying no emotion.

"You say his name in your sleep." Jareth growled, unable to keep Rude's gaze.

"You ever think he might be involved in my nightmares?" Rude grabbed Jareth's chin and forced him to meet his eyes.

"Nightmares?" Jareth sniffed, "Why didn't you tell me you have nightmares?"

"Because they aren't important." Rude stroked Jareth's cheek lovingly, his voice suddenly tender and soothing, "They're about the night my mother died. Reno was there. Of _course_ I say his name, our lives were in danger and in my nightmares he's getting killed."

"More proof that you love him." Jareth frowned, his lower lip trembling.

"No," Rude kissed Jareth softly, "more proof that he's my best friend and I can't live without him."

"You never have dreams about me." Jareth sniffed. "Does that mean you can live without me?"

"I don't know." Rude answered honestly, "I haven't come close to losing you yet."

Jareth glared at him, his voice unforgiving and his tears suddenly gone, "So you can."

"I didn't say that." Rude sighed, "It's complicated."

"Complicated." Jareth huffed, "Sure it is."

"You don't have room to talk." Rude growled.

"What does that mean?" Jareth snarled, glaring daggers at Rude.

"I know you cheated," Rude gripped Jareth's wrist tighter in his hand, "I saw."

"If you knew then why did you stay with me?" Jareth snapped, "I _knew_ you saw! I made sure that you were around when I did it! I wanted to know if you'd say anything or if you'd be a coward!"

"I wasn't going to say anything. I figured you'd tell me. I was waiting for you to be a man and fess up." Rude loosened his grip on Jareth's wrist. "I thought you were just drunk. That it was a mistake and that inside somewhere you were guilty about it." His eyes narrowed, "I guess I was wrong."

"I was sober as anything." Jareth snarled, ripping himself from Rude's slackened hands, "I've known that you love Reno more than me for a while now. I wanted to see if the idea of loosing me would strike enough of a blow to get a reaction from you. It didn't even _phase_ you! You really are the cold-hearted bastard Ellie thinks you are."

"Get the hell out of my apartment and don't come back." Rude snarled, grabbing Jareth by his shirt and throwing him bodily from the room.

Jareth landed in the hall with a thud, "No problems there asshole! You have fun chasing things you can't have!"

"I will." Rude slammed the door so hard the frame cracked.

He clenched his hands into fists at his sides and thought hard about what Jareth had said. He was fairly sure that he wasn't _in love_ with Reno. He loved Reno, that he wouldn't deny, but he wasn't sure if it was the same type of love he had _thought_ he had for Jareth. In truth though, he had been unsure about his relationship with Jareth since the beginning. He hadn't really felt comfortable with the idea that he had started a relationship drunk and he had felt bad for taking advantage of Jareth when both their judgements were impaired. What he imagined his behavior had been like that first night reminded him of Crowlman. That sick bastard had taken him drunk before and Rude hadn't enjoyed it. He had never enjoyed it. He always felt that he was completely taking advantage of Jareth and he hated himself for it, but now he realized that Jareth had taken advantage of him and had probably been taking advantage of him since day one. The thought made him sick to his stomach.

Rude sighed and punched the wall, relishing the feel of cracking dry wall under his fists. He then took off his shoes and set them neatly beside the door, determined to go on as if his confrontation with Jareth hadn't happened. He would eat dinner, he would relax, he would go to sleep, and he would wake up happy.

Except he wouldn't.

* * *

**Author's Note: *sniff* Poor Rude!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's Note: I haven't posted one of these things at the beginning in a while but it's necessary this time. There is some very citrusy content in this chapter and I feel urged to warn the more sensitive readers about it. Please caution yourself and if it offends you, my apologies, but I truly don't care and flames will be used to toast s'mores.**

** -Love, Vietta

* * *

**

Reno stalked up the stairs after pocketing the pills that Rude had made him ask for. He wasn't stupid enough to deny the fact that they helped with the pain, but he didn't have to pretend to be happy about taking them either. He was winded by the time he reached his floor and he briefly chastised himself for not taking the elevator. He hurt too much to take the stairs. He sat on the landing and caught his breath, still stewing about taking pills. He heard shouts from the floor above him and looked at the ceiling quizzically. He tilted his head to the side and listened to the jarring sound of a door being slammed and heard someone stomp down the stairs, swearing colorfully as they did. His curiosity was allayed when Jareth stomped down the stairs in front of him, "You okay yo?"

Jareth stopped on the stairs and his brow furrowed, "You stupid bastard!"

Reno was confused, "What did I do?"

Jareth sped down the stairs and stood in front of Reno, hands on his hips, "You took him away from me!"

"How the hell did I do that?" Reno frowned, realization of what had just happened above dawning on him, "Whatever you're accusing me of you did it to yourself ya dumb fuck!"

Jareth pointed an accusatory finger at him, "You're the reason he just tossed me out!"

"So that's what that noise was?" Reno mused sarcastically, "I never would've guessed."

"You just wait you stupid asshole! I'll get you both back for this!" Jareth's lower lip quivered.

"Listen yo if you've got a problem with Rude take it up with Rude I don't answer for him, I don't even know what's going on." Reno stood up, dismissing Jareth's accusations with a flick of his wrist.

"Don't play stupid with me!" Jareth yelled, standing in Reno's way as he tried to walk back to his apartment.

"But stupid is my favorite game." Reno taunted, "Listen yo, Rude's boyfriend or not if you don't let me pass I'm gonna flatten ya!"

"Oh really?" Jareth yelled, pushing Reno backwards, "You think you can?"

"I know I can ya pansy." Reno took up a fighting stance, "You better think twice before you get yourself into this mess."

"I'll get in all the messes I want!" Jareth took up his own fighting position opposite Reno.

Reno gave an exasperated sigh, "I don't wanna do this Jareth. Let me through."

"Hell no!" Jareth growled and threw a punch at Reno.

Reno dodged the blow nimbly, grabbing Jareth's wrist in one hand. He twisted Jareth's arm behind his back with a growl and slammed him against the wall. Jareth twisted in his grasp and elbowed him in the stomach. Reno took the blow with a grimace and caught Jareth's wayward arm, pulling it behind his back with the other one. Jareth continued to struggle, "Give the fuck up Jareth!"

"No! I'm gonna kill you!" Jareth screamed and thrashed against the wall, trying desperately to throw Reno off him.

"What the hell is going on?" Gareth pulled Reno off of Jareth and stood between the brawling pair.

"The bastard is looking for a fight." Reno growled over Gareth's shoulder at Jareth, "I don't know what the hell is problem is."

"Don't play stupid!" Jareth snarled, trying to get past Gareth to lash out at Reno.

"Stupid is his favorite game." Gareth huffed, shoving Jareth back. "Stay the fuck away from my boyfriend."

Jareth laughed manically, "You think he's still your boyfriend? He and Rude just spent _hours_ together in his apartment and now Rude threw me out!"

Gareth raised an eyebrow, "What the hell are you trying to say?"

"He's trying to say I'm cheating on you with Rude." Reno growled angrily, crossing his arms over his chest, "He forgot to mention the fact that he cheated on Rude. Ya don't think that mighta got ya thrown out ya stupid bastard?"

"How do you know about that?" Jareth yelled angrily, still trying to get past Gareth.

"He told me!" Reno answered testily.

Gareth grabbed Jareth by the collar and shoved him into the wall, "I don't give a damn what Rude did to you, don't take it out on Reno." He threw Jareth away from him, "Get out of my sight before I let him finish kicking your ass."

"You'll regret this you slippery red bastard." Jareth scowled.

"I don't think so." Reno stuck his tongue out at Jareth, "Go look for a fight somewhere else alright? Leave me the fuck alone."

Jareth growled and stomped out of the hall. "So," Gareth turned and faced him, "I can't leave you alone for five minutes can I?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Reno snarled, on the defensive.

"Every time I turn around you're trying to get hurt." Gareth chuckled and pulled Reno down the hall to his apartment.

"Not my fault." Reno mumbled. "You're not mad that I was hanging out with Rude?"

"Course not he's your best friend." Gareth shrugged, "I know how that goes."

"I figured you'd be pissed though. You got mad because I was with Tseng so I figured being with Rude wouldn't be much better." Reno scratched the back of his head, confused.

"I overreacted earlier red, freaked out for no good reason and really screwed shit up. I'm sorry." Gareth pulled Reno into a hug, "You still mad?"

"Kinda." Reno nodded into Gareth's chest, "You gotta trust me Gareth."

"I do Reno." Gareth nuzzled the top of Reno's head lovingly. "Can I make it up to you?"

"How do you plan on doing that?" Reno looked up at Gareth with a sly grin.

"You'll see." Gareth winked and kissed Reno passionately, pulling him closer as he did.

Reno panted as the kiss broke, "Forgiven. Make-up sex time?"

Gareth chuckled and opened the door to his apartment, dragging Reno inside, "You don't have to report tomorrow morning do you?"

"Nope," Reno followed Gareth into the apartment willingly, kicking the door shut behind them. "I've got patrol tomorrow night. I'm free to sleep in all morning."

Gareth pressed Reno against the door and ran a hand along the inside of his thigh. "So how do you want me to make it up to you?"

Reno shivered as Gareth's hand dragged slowly across his groin, "You're off to a good start."

Gareth nipped at his ear, "Am I? I couldn't tell." He ran a single finger across Reno's clothed hardness, "Are you wearing underwear red?"

"No." Reno pressed his hips forward, eager for Gareth to touch more of him.

"I thought not." Gareth grinned and stroked Reno through the cloth.

"Don't tease." Reno panted as Gareth squeezed his cock gently.

"Why red? I thought you liked being teased." Gareth chuckled and worked to undo the buttons of Reno's shirt with his teeth.

"But I'm impatient!" Reno groaned.

"We have all night to fix that." Gareth grinned and nipped a path up Reno's chest, his slow stroking pulling more and more blood into Reno's already hard cock.

"I want it fixed _now_." Reno pushed Gareth's jacket off his shoulders and crushed their lips together in a hungry kiss.

Gareth smirked into the kiss and quickly removed Reno's belt, allowing Reno to take off his shirt at the same time. Clothes were flung in all directions as they haphazardly wound their way to the bedroom and several pieces of furniture lay as an obstacle course in their wake. They threw themselves on the bed, a tangle of heated limbs and had a small battle to determine who would top. Gareth won, pinning Reno's wrists above his head and twining their tongues together in a hungry kiss. He straddled Reno, rubbing their erections together as he moved for the bottle of lubricant that was now a fixture on his nightstand, the friction of the movement pulling a tortured groan from both of them. He kissed Reno before flipping him onto all fours, running a well lubricated hand along his backside. "Don't prep just put it in!" Reno begged.

"But watching you squirm is half the fun." Gareth whispered seductively as he slid two fingers into Reno's puckered entrance. Reno groaned and pressed back against the fingers, aching for more.

"Don't tease." Reno gave a strangled lust-filled groan as Gareth's skilled fingers brushed across his prostate.

"Shhhh red, let me enjoy the show." Gareth's own breathing quickened as he saw Reno's limbs begin to shake at the entry of a third finger. Reno pressed back against his talented fingers and moaned loudly, knowing exactly what Gareth wanted to see him do.

Reno gasped as white sparks of pleasure shot through his body, "You 'enjoy the show' much longer and I'll come without you." He threatened huskily, his voice trembling in sync with his body.

Gareth bit his ass before he positioned himself in front of Reno's eager entrance, wrapping an arm around his waist as he entered. They moaned in unison as Gareth set a steady and unrelenting pace. Reno felt pleasure coiling in his belly and he panted words of encouragement, begging Gareth to go faster. Gareth complied, pounding into Reno as hard and fast as his sex fogged brain would allow and stroked Reno's hard cock just as fast. Reno came with a scream, his seed squirting from between Gareth's fingers and pooling onto the bed below them. Gareth followed, Reno's name slipping from his tongue as he collapsed on his young lovers back, panting heavily. He peppered Reno's shoulder with kisses and rolled them out of the pool of cum, "I'm gonna hafta start making you wear protection red."

"Why?" Reno asked, contentedly clinging to Gareth's side and blissfully unaware of the sticky pool next to him.

"I'm getting sick of changing my sheets." Gareth chuckled happily, kissing Reno's forehead tenderly.

They lay in silence for awhile, sated and simply enjoying each others company as their breathing returned to normal. Just as Reno was close to sleep Gareth spoke up, "You hungry red?"

Reno looked up sleepily, "For what yo? More already?"

"No, I meant for pizza or something. Although," Gareth chuckled and ran a hand down Reno's side, "I won't object if you're ready for another round already."

Reno hummed happily, "Pizza first. Need to build up our strength if we're gonna keep at this all night."

"What kind?" Gareth searched his nightstand blindly for his phone until he remembered it was still in his pants, which were laying somewhere in a forgotten corner of his apartment.

"Surprise me." Reno stretched, a pleasant soreness mixing with the gentle throb of the bruises that peppered his body.

* * *

**Author's Note: That lemon I've been avoiding fell off the tree and hit me in the head, so I put it in here ^^ It's my first full-fledged lemon so be gentle! *dodges rotten fruit and crushed dreams***


	24. Chapter 24

Reno woke up to his phone ringing angrily somewhere in the apartment. He swore and crawled out of bed, searching blindly for his phone before he finally remembered that it was in another room with his pants. He grumbled slurred curses as he followed the ringing to his clothes, opening it with a swear, "The fuck ya want?"

"_Get dressed and get to the hospital. We have an issue._" Tseng ordered curtly and hung up.

Reno stared at the phone confused before he realized what Tseng had said. He swore again and began the arduous task of finding his clothes. He looked in Gareth's room to find that he wasn't there, something he should have noticed when he woke up. He swore again, _he must already be there._ He left the apartment, his suit in disarray and missing a few pieces. Namely his tie and socks.

When Reno walked into the hospital he found most of the Turks sitting stony faced and looking as tired as he felt. Nasira was crying her eyes out on Tseng's shoulder and everyone else was looking away, trying to let her keep some shred of dignity. Reno didn't think she cared about dignity at the moment. "What's goin' on yo?"

"Gareth, inform him." Tseng ordered brusquely, his eyes not leaving Nasira as he tried to calm her.

"Come 'ere red." Gareth beckoned him close with one hand, the other wiping tears from his face.

Reno sat down next to his distraught lover and prepared himself for bad news, "Who died?" He joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Matt." Gareth choked out, pulling Reno into a tight embrace.

Reno was shocked and his face showed it, he numbly wrapped his arms around Gareth and stared blankly around the room. Rude was sitting on the other side of the room, head in his hands and sunglasses dangling from his fingertips. Ellie and Jareth were sitting side by side and hand in hand on the other side of the room, Ellie crying on Jareth's shoulder and Jareth glaring at Rude for all he was worth, tears streaming down his face. He held Gareth closer, burying his face in soft black locks, unable to face the sad sight of Nasira, strong youthful Nasira, sobbing with sadness and rage on Tseng's shoulder.

"He's not dead!" Nasira screamed, pushing herself off of Tseng's shoulder and glaring at him, "I saw him yesterday! Sure he was beat up but he was fine! He was happy! He was alive! He can't be dead!" She grabbed Tseng by the front of his shirt and shook him, anger and sadness mixing on her face, "He's not dead! He's just not!"

Tseng pulled her hands from his shirt and held her at arms length, "He's gone Nasira."

"Then why can't I see the body?" Nasira choked, tears pouring down her face, "Why won't they let me have one last look at my lover huh?" Tseng didn't answer, instead looking at the floor. Nasira's tears flowed faster and her voice became more frantic, "He didn't die did he!? They took him to Hojo!" Tseng didn't answer and Nasira yelled louder, "Answer me Tseng!"

"He's as good as dead!" Tseng snapped, "There's not a damn thing we can do! Not a damn thing any of us can do! Hojo's experiments will kill him! Even Veld can't do anything! I already tried!"

Reno shuddered at the mention of Hojo and his horrid experiments. He had never met the wretched scientist but he had seen him wandering the halls, looking at everyone he passed like they were rats and he was a slimy bespectacled vulture searching for prey. He briefly imagined Matt strapped helplessly to one of Hojo's lab tables, tubes and needles coating him from head to toe as Hojo performed acts of ungodly horror on his unwilling body. He shivered and pulled Gareth closer.

Nasira gulped hard, trying to control her tears, "He's not going to die by Hojo's hand."

"It's a suicide mission Nasira." Tseng shook his head, "Even if you do get him out, Shinra will send us after you. We'll have to kill you."

"I don't care." Nasira shook her head, ripping her hands from Tseng's grasp, "I'm getting him out of there. You give chase and I'll take you all down with us!"

"Is that a threat Nasira?" Tseng's voice was calm and dangerous.

"It's a promise!" Nasira yelled, stomping and sobbing from the hospital room.

"I hope to god we don't find them." Tseng shook his head and wiped his eyes on the back of his hand.

Gareth looked up, "We're not really going to go after them are we? Can't we let them get away?"

"We'll give them a head-start." Tseng sat down, "We'll let them run until Veld forces us to move on them."

* * *

**Author's Note: OMG CLIFFHANGER!!! **


	25. Chapter 25

Nasira left the next day and it was two weeks before she managed to free Matt from Hojo's lab. Hojo was injured during her rescue mission, but not killed, much to everyone's chagrin. Tseng received hell for not informing anyone of Nasira's departure and it was believed that she had received outside help during her rescue mission. Tseng had sent everyone to 'search' for the missing pair, but everyone knew that looking meant they were to go to the places in the slums where they were sure the two wouldn't hide and hope to Gaia that they didn't find them. They were now listed as KOS, kill on sight.

Reno, Rude, Gareth, and Tseng spent almost every waking moment scouring the slums for the duo, making it look like the Turks were on the case and completely capable of retrieving Shinra's lost property, but in reality none of them wanted to find their ex-comrades.

Ellie spent every spare minute she had on the phone, trying to reach Nasira and crying. After about a week of calling she succeeded in reaching Nasira and was able to talk to her. She didn't show up for work the next day, and two weeks after the call no one knew where she was. She was listed in their mission file among the people to look for, and the same approach was taken in their search for her. Look in the obvious places and hope that she was with Nasira and Matt. Jareth didn't stay long after Ellie left. He went 'missing' two days after she did. It wasn't a surprise to anyone, it was obvious that he wanted her and no one really missed his sulky attitude and infectious anger.

Brandon stayed, much to everyones surprise and relief. He and Matt were best friends and Tseng had expected him to leave with Nasira, but Brandon wanted to stay, his reasoning was, "I have to let Cissnei know I'm not dead before I desert."

After a month of poking around the slums Shinra put his foot down. He made it know that if the missing Turks weren't found and killed the remaining Turks would be, deserters were not tolerated and made him look bad. It was after this announcement that Veld, completely aware of the tactics they had been using since the start, made them search for real. Tseng knew they were still in Midgar, that they were under the plate, and that they were well hidden and most likely aided by a gang. He knew this because not one thing happened above plate that Shinra didn't know about, everything was carefully monitored via cameras and spies. Not a damn thing went amiss above the plate and the only way out of Midgar was above the plate. Since none of the Turks had been caught trying to leave Midgar, the only reasonable place for them to be was in the slums and any fugitive hiding from Shinra in the slums became part of a gang.

* * *

Reno and Rude traipsed through the slums, searching every empty warehouse and scouring every corner of every alley. They made it to sector five before Reno started complaining, and they made it to sector six before Rude got sick of it. Neither of them enjoyed being in the slums and it noticeably strained their ability to work with each other. The slums held horrible memories for both of them.

"Lets take a break and eat something." Rude growled, "I'm sick of searching. It's like looking for a blue needle in a stack of grey needles and I'm sick of pricking my finger on false leads."

"They might be easier to find if they were blue." Reno snorted and led the way into a nearby diner, one they were both familiar with. "Brings back memories doesn't it?"

"Not good ones." Rude huffed, pulling up a tacky plastic chair and frowning at the greasy menu.

"There's a few good ones!" Reno pouted, "Remember when me, you, and Fay came here for your birthday and the owner gave us free ice cream?"

"How the hell do you remember that?" Rude asked after the ordered their food. "That was _years_ ago. I'm surprised I remember."

"It was a good memory yo." Reno shrugged, looking about the dingy diner with a nostalgic look.

Rude smiled, reminiscing, "Yeah it was."

"Think we'll ever find 'em?" Reno asked as a waiter who couldn't be older than ten brought them their food.

"I don't know if I want too." Rude sighed, stabbing moodily at his food.

"Me either. You think the others are having any luck? They were supposed to wait for us in this sector, you think maybe they found somethin'?"

"Or they got sick of waiting." Rude suggested as he pushed his food around on his plate.

"The food isn't as good I remember." Reno frowned sadly at his plate.

Rude sighed and pushed his plate away, "We used to think this stuff was amazing."

Reno followed suit and pushed his plate away, "We came here the day after Fay died."

"I don't think that's why the food sucks." Rude chuckled humorlessly.

"No, but it does make it fuckin' hard to eat here." Reno shook his head and stood up, "Lets get back to lookin' yo, Tseng's probably shittin' himself waitin' on us."

Rude snorted and stood up to leave. He stopped short of the door and went back, pulling out his wallet and setting a large amount of gil on the table next to their uneaten food.

* * *

They continued looking as they walked down the sector, asking passerby if they knew anything and getting a mute reply. They were halfway down the sector when Reno spotted Gareth leaning against a wall, obviously waiting for them. He grinned and sprinted happily towards his moody lover, giving him an enthusiastic hug as a greeting. Gareth smiled weakly and waited for Rude to catch up with the over eager red-head before saying anything. "What's wrong yo?" Reno pestered, confused by Gareth's uncharacteristic silence.

"We found them." Gareth sighed, hands balling into fists at his sides. "They're in a warehouse with some gang called Avalanche and they want us all there for a final showdown." He snorted angrily, "You two better be ready to kick some ass, we're ridiculously outnumbered. We might not make it out, Nasira, Matt, Ellie, and Jareth are gonna be a problem. They're willing to kill us or die trying and they found friends to help them."

Reno closed his eyes and gave a mournful sigh, "This is gonna suck."

"Truer words have never been spoken." Gareth chuckled and gave Reno a lingering kiss, "In case we don't make it out."

Reno winked, "We'll make it out. Don't we always make it out alive Rude?" Rude gave an amused grunt, "See Gareth? We'll be just fine. Might get roughed up a little, but we'll always make it out."

"Good Gaia I hope so." Gareth sighed before giving them an encouraging smile and leading them down an alley.

* * *

**Author's Note: I know, two chapters in one day! What am I thinking? What I'm thinking is, I want the rest of this story out just as much as you do. Hopefully you won't hate me when it's all over..... **

**I'm going to refrain from updating this any further until I get some more damned reviews. I feel like my efforts at a story are being wasted and I don't appreciate that. To the readers who do review, I thank you. To the ones that don't, why the hell not yo?**


	26. A WARNING

**A notice to all readers of this fanfiction:**

** I will make this warning one last time before I stop posting this story. I am hurt by the lack of reviews I am getting and this story thrives on feedback so when I don't get any, the story starves. If I don't receive any feedback soon I will not post the next chapter of ****Live Until Tomorrow**** (yes, it is written.) **

**I know I'm being a demanding bitch but ya know what? After all my hard work on this I feel I deserve some kind of feedback on how its doing yo.  
**

**To the readers who do review regularly, I am sorry that you are being grouped in with the readers who do not but I am getting very tired of not hearing a damned word about what anyone else thinks of this story, not saying your thoughts don't matter, I'm just saying I need input from more than just two people.**

**Sincerely,**

** Vietta (a.k.a.- a very pissed off author who's feeling rather unappreciated)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing, here is your reward. ;) **

**Didn't mean to be a bitch, I was just sick of my efforts feeling wasted. Hopefully you understand, notice that I kept my word and posted after you reviewed!**

**I don't enjoy threatening my readers into reviewing but it was beginning to feel necessary as the 'Please R&R!' at the end of each chapter (except for the first couple chapters because I didn't quite understand the purpose of Author's Notes) was having no affect.  
**

**Btw-you're all probably going to hate me after you read this chapter, if you didn't hate me already.  
**

**

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Reno and Rude followed Gareth into an abandoned warehouse in sector seven that they had purposefully been avoiding in their search, it was so likely a hiding place that they had been almost afraid to look there. Gareth shoved open a broken door, EMR drawn and his face stony. Reno and Rude prepared themselves before entering, Reno drawing out his EMR, Rude cracking his knuckles and pulling his gun out of a holster inside his jacket. They shared a cautious glance and nod before following Gareth inside.

Matt, Nasira, Ellie, Jareth, Tseng, Brandon, and a small cluster of people Reno didn't know were gathered in a loose circle in the middle of the warehouse. Reno quickly took up position beside Gareth, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he prepared himself for the inevitable fight. Tseng was calmly trying to talk sense into his former employees and their comrades, "This is pointless! Must we kill each other? Can't you cooperate?"

Nasira laughed, "I told you if any of you came to get us I'd take you down. Ellie and Jareth came along for the ride and are just as willing to die to protect Matt as I am." Nasira placed her hands on Matt's shoulders as she spoke, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

Matt had never looked worse. The large man was coated in half-healed surgical incisions, small bits of metal poking out of his skin and a materia glow warm in his eyes. His right arm was missing and in its place was a poorly constructed prosthetic with a gun held loosely at the end, his thin metal fingers clutching it almost feebly. Reno was tempted to look away, unable to imagine the horrors Hojo had put his now enemy under, "Good to see you're alive Matt."

"If Tseng had had his way I wouldn't be." Matt growled, his voice gravely and rough.

"I never wanted this to happen to you Matt." Tseng shook his head in protest, "There wasn't anything I could do to stop them. Believe me I tri-"

"Don't give me that shit Tseng! You were against coming to my rescue! You would've let Hojo kill me or worse." Matt snarled, his prosthetic fingers twitching on the trigger of his gun.

Tseng's hand tensed on his own gun, "If you all return to Shinra no one will have to die tonight."

"Go back to that hell hole?" Nasira sneered, "I almost lost Matt once because of that place. Never again. Shinra wouldn't allow us to marry because we were coworkers." Nasira held up her hand, a small ring glinting on her finger in the dim light of the warehouse, "He's my husband now and till death do we part!"

"Congrats." Reno snorted, "You got married, but now you're gonna throw your lives away trying to take out your friends?"

"You aren't our friend." Jareth snarled, glaring at Reno and raising his gun, "You never were, you were a coworker and a shitty one at that."

Gareth moved to stand in front of Reno, trying to speak reason as the situation threatened to spiral out of control, "How about your new friends? Are you sure they're as willing to die as you are?"

"Avalanche is determined to rid the planet of you Shinra scum!" One of the gang members spat on the floor near Tseng's feet, "Either join us or forfeit your lives here!"

Tseng chuckled, "Our lives were forfeit before we ever walked in."

Matt tensed, "You can still join us Tseng. All of you can. You don't have to die like this."

"Yes we do." Tseng smiled patronizingly, "You remember the talk Veld gave each of us the day we signed the contract? 'You never leave Shinra, ever. If you do manage to escape then all records that you ever existed are erased to save the company the embarrassment and you're still hunted down. Those who manage to get away never truly get away.'" Tseng chuckled, "Even if you do manage to evade Shinra for a while, you'll never truly escape. You can't even leave Midgar now. As for your concern for our lives, I have no intention of dying tonight."

"So you won't join up with us?" Ellie asked nervously, her hand tensing on the long katana she held.

"I can't speak for them, but I'm not going to take sides against my employer." Tseng held his head high as he spoke and Ellie quailed under his gaze, obviously unsure of her decision now that the time for their 'showdown' had come. Tseng looked over at his remaining loyal Turks, "Any of you want to change sides?"

Brandon shook his head, holding a katana in one hand and a gun in the other, "I'll pass. Cissnei would hate me if I let them kill you."

Rude snorted in amusement and cocked his gun, raising it to shoulder height, "I'd rather fight all of them than you two."

Gareth chuckled, "I agree with that Rude." He held his EMR up and flicked on the power, an evil smile crossing his lips as it crackled into life.

Reno grinned, "My friends are over here, right Jareth? What's the point of changing sides yo?" His own EMR sparkled maliciously in the half-light of the warehouse.

"Seems we've reached an agreement then." Tseng chuckled, drawing out his gun and quickly emptying his clip with precise aim into the Avalanche members nearest himself.

Brandon leapt into action immediately, following Tseng's example and shooting at the gang members first to take out the distracting threat as he swung his sword up to meet Ellie's half-hearted attack. Rude dodged bullets and fired his own, aiming for Jareth as the brunette shot at him from behind a large crate. Gareth winked at Reno and launched himself forward, attacking Matt full force, his EMR zapping the metal prosthetic limb and knocking the gun from it's grasp. Reno ducked nimbly as Nasira threw a punch to his head, placing his EMR under her arm as it flew over his head. She brought her elbow down on his head as her arm jerked under the electric current. Reno dodged her leg as she tried to kick his knees out from under him and swung at her again with his EMR. She dodged the blow and threw her own, putting Reno on the defensive as she attacked him with her fists and feet. He danced around her, only throwing punches when he thought he could land them.

Rude fired quickly, emptying round after round into the crate Jareth was hiding behind, running only when the space he was shooting from was encroached by Ellie and Brandon's frenzied slashes and gunfire. He took careful aim as his former lover peered out from behind the crate, shooting when he saw the tip of a gun peak over the top. Jareth ducked immediately and tried to run for another crate but Rude's gunfire cut him off, trapping him behind the large wooden box. Rude ran between the individual battles his teammates were having, Reno and Nasira half-dancing, half fighting, Gareth and Matt brutally exchanging blows, Matt using his prosthetic arm like a large metal claw, Ellie and Brandon slicing the air with swords and bullets, Tseng and the members of Avalanche exchanging bullets, Avalanche members dropping like flies under Tseng's steady fire. Rude stopped when a small shower of bullets blocked his path. He threw himself to the ground and rolled behind a set of stairs, the solid wall of railing protecting him from harm as bullets flew at him. He crawled up the stairs as fast as he could, grinning as Jareth continued to fire at the spot he had initially thrown himself behind. He reached the upper floor of the building and shot the Avalanche members hiding there, none of them getting a chance to even register his presence. Rude ran towards a large hole in the second floor and peered down at the scene below him. Jareth was still unloading bullets into the staircase where he had taken cover and was directly below his new hiding place. He scowled and aimed at his former lover, pulling the trigger before he could think twice. The bullet hit Jareth in the side of the head, bits of blood and skull peppering the crate he had been hiding behind. Rude snorted as he watched Jareth's limp form slide to the ground, "Dumb coward."

Reno panted heavily as Nasira lunged for him again, her shirt still smoking from its prolonged contact with his EMR. His lungs screamed for air as he threw all his leftover strength into an attack, grinning with satisfaction as the electrical currents flowing through her body momentarily stopped her violent onslaught. He increased the voltage in his EMR, squinting as the light burned his retinas and her skin. She screamed and he removed his weapon, letting her fall to the floor in a heap. He turned to dodge a bullet that cut through the air towards him and Nasira kicked his legs out from under him with a sneer. He fell with a thud, his EMR flying from his hand and clattering to the ground a few feet away from him. Nasira straddled him and grabbed his shirt, punching him in the face violently as he tried to squirm out from under her. His vision began to blur as blood seeped into his eyes and he struggled harder, punching back as her fist collided with his face. Suddenly her attacks stopped as a stray bullet tore through her chest and she slumped forward, landing on him in a singed and bloody heap. He pushed her off and quickly got to his feet, lunging for his EMR. He spun around once it was in his hand, looking for a new competitor in their battle for their lives. He saw Rude sprinting down the stairs and nodded to him, running forward to make sure he was alright.

Suddenly the building shook violently and fire engulfed the middle of the room as a deafening bang sliced through the air. Reno screamed and threw his hands over his face, pushing Rude to the side as he did. Rude grabbed his jacket and dragged them both to the ground behind the stairwell wall as fire rushed over their heads. Once the initial blast was over Reno staggered to his feet, pulling Rude up with him. They started to run for the exit of the building when another earsplitting bang shook the building. Reno threw himself to the floor and Rude landed on top of him with a pained cry. Rude rolled to his side with a pained grunt and Reno sat up, looking at his friend with concern. Rude clutched his leg and hissed with pain, hands around a long metal bar that had gouged through the flesh and bone of his calf. Reno paled and pulled Rude upright, careful not to jar the long metal projectile that had split Rude's leg and supported his weight as he dragged his injured friend to the exit. He could see bodies writhing in the flames and his heart raced with fear as he watched, hoping that Gareth, Tseng, and Brandon would stagger out of the flames. He pulled Rude out of the building panting and afraid, eyes wide with shock as he surveyed the damage around them. The fight had started in the building, but whatever had caused the blasts inside it had sent fiery chunks of wall and ceiling through the surrounding buildings, punching large holes in some and leveling others. Reno dragged Rude across the street, leaning him against one of the less dilapidated buildings. He turned and scanned the warehouse for any sign of Gareth or Tseng, his pulse getting faster by the second when he didn't see any signs of life among the dancing flames. His heart stopped as he saw a lopsided figure stagger out of the building. He ran forward, heedless to his own injuries as he hoped against all hope that shadowy form belonged to Gareth.

As he drew closer to the building the bright and cheerful flames illuminated his injured lover being dragged down the street by Tseng, both looking worse for wear. Reno grabbed Gareth and helped Tseng pull him down the street, his concern turning into outright fear as he noticed the blossoming blood spreading across Gareth's chest. "Set him down set him down!" Reno commanded as they reached the spot where Rude lay, hands clamped around his leg and his face screwed up in pain. Tseng complied and laid Gareth down on the ground gently. "Gareth?" Reno asked tentatively, hoisting Gareth's torso into his arms and pulling his body into his lap.

"Red?" Gareth coughed, blood pouring out the side of his mouth, "I took a bad hit red. Bullets hurt like hell." He weakly placed his hand over his chest where blood was steadily flowing out of a large hole there.

"You'll be okay I promise! We'll get you to the hospital and everything will be alright!" Reno placed his hand on top of Gareth's as hot ash floated over them like black snow.

"I don't think it's gonna work that way red." Gareth shook his head, blood still leaking from his lips. "Loosing to much blood. A hospital isn't going to help me now, only a miracle can."

"You can't die on me Gareth!" Reno shook his head in disbelief, holding Gareth closer. The body that had warmed his bed the night before beginning to grow cold in his arms, despite the fires heat surrounding them.

"I think I have to die red." Gareth reached a blood soaked hand up to stroke Reno's cheek, "You'll be okay, I promise."

"Not without you!" Reno felt tears cut burning paths down his cheeks as he watched the life begin to ebb from Gareth's eyes. "You have to stay! You can't die!"

Gareth pulled Reno towards him, bloody lips meeting burnt ones in a passionate and desperate kiss. Reno closed his eyes and kissed Gareth for all he was worth, trying to force every last ounce of passion and love into the embrace, willing Gareth's soul to stay longer. He felt Gareth's lips begin to fade beneath his own and pulled away, "Please don't go."

Gareth smiled as his form began to fade, "I'm not leaving forever red, you'll see me again." Gareth gave a shuddering smile and looked over his shoulder at Rude, "You better take care of him baldy, or I'll haunt your ass."

Reno gave a strangled sob, "Please Gareth! I love you! You've gotta stay!"

Gareth began to dematerialize in his arms, his eyes clouding over with pain and tears, his voice shaking, "I love you Reno."

Reno kissed Gareth's fading lips one last time before his lover burst in a shower of green sparks that floated gently towards the sky, leaving Reno behind crouched on the ground, his arms holding only air and his pain-filled heart-broken cries loud enough to drown out the monstrous roar of the fiery building crashing to a burning heap behind him.

* * *

**Author's Note: *dodges bullets as angry readers try to shoot her for killing off most all of the characters* **

**At least all the OC's are gone! Come on! Don't get mad, get glad! I knew they were all gonna die when I created them okay? It's best not to get attached to any OC's I write!**

**There's a bright side to every tragedy....okay, _maybe_ not this one. **

**I cried while writing this chapter and I truly hate myself for getting Reno so upset and hurt, but it had to be done.**

**You'll see why it had to be done later.  
**

**R&R.**


	28. Chapter 28

Rude was awake, but not by choice. He had lost enough blood that he was feeling incredibly dizzy and nauseous but he wasn't worried about those miniscule irritations at the moment. What was completely destroying his will to stay awake while preventing him from going to sleep was the shooting pain in his leg. He shifted, trying to get the unbearable pain to subside at least a little and groaned audibly. He had broken bones before and he'd been shot, but this pain was like a horrible mixture of the two sensations. The distinct and sharp pain of a broken bone mixed with the painfully disconcerting feeling that a good portion of his flesh was missing. They had been able to take the long metal rod out of his leg easily enough and with materia they had been able to fix most of the bone and repair a good portion of the meat in his leg, but he'd have to undergo several materia treatments to heal completely. He could hear sobbing to his left and he didn't even have to look to know who it was. He knew Reno would be crying, pouring all that was left of his broken heart out in tears. Knowing that the chances of Reno being happy any time soon were slim and that he was so devastated made Rude want to cry as well. He didn't begrudge Reno the hurt, he'd take the physical pain he was going through now over Reno's emotional pain any day. "Reno?" He croaked, his throat parched and ragged from holding back pained screams.

Reno shot upright, his hands still fisting the hospital sheets, "Yeah Rude?"

"I'm sorry." Rude croaked. He couldn't think of anything else to say and he knew the words sounded empty and false from overuse and didn't help Reno at all to hear them, maybe even intensified his pain more, but he felt the pressing urge to say something, anything to break the sobbing silence, an irony he didn't miss.

Reno gave a hiccuping laugh, "Not your fault. You better not die on me you bald bastard. Gareth told you to take care of me and I'm gonna make damn sure you live long enough to do what he told ya too."

Rude gave a weak, pained smile, "What're you gonna do now?"

"Dunno." Reno sighed and laid his head back down on the bed, to worn out from crying to keep it up for long. "It's only been a few hours and I miss him like hell." Rude tried to reply but his throat was so dry he couldn't get out more than a crackling grunt. Reno seemed to understand what he wanted to say though, "Yeah Rude, I know. Try to get some sleep, you need it." Rude half groaned, half grunted a reply. Reno frowned, "I hate those damn nurses yo, they can't be doing their jobs if you sound like this." Reno stood up shakily, his voice still tear soaked, "Want me to go fetch one?" Rude grabbed the small alert button that was permanently fixed to the hospital bed and held it up. Reno sniffed pathetically and grabbed it from him, jabbing the nurse call button repeatedly. "Smart idea Rude."

A slew of nurses ran to the room a short while later, some carrying crash carts and others armed with bandages and materia. Reno stopped jamming his finger on the button and looked up at the nurses in confusion as Rude gave a shaky and cackling laugh. "Jeez guys all he needs is a glass of water." The nurses eyed him angrily and a few swore at him audibly before they returned to their posts dragging crash carts and materia with them. One nurse returned with a paper cup filled with cool water and held it to Rude's lips, gently tipping his head back to make sure the water got down his throat. Reno sat back down, resting his head on the bed as the nurse cared for Rude.

"Sorry about the other nurses. They thought he was having a medical emergency the way you were pressing that button. Usually when people want something small like this they only press the button once or twice." The nurse emptied the glass into Rude's mouth, "More?"

"Please." Rude croaked with a grimace as his head swam and the water aggravated his nausea. The crippling thirst was still there, but he felt so much better after just the one small glass of water that he couldn't refuse the offer of more.

"Of course." The nurse left the room and returned with more water. Rude took the glass from her hands shakily, drinking on his own. "Don't drink so fast, you'll throw up."

Reno watched Rude drink silently, his eyes burning from all the crying he had done. His head throbbed and he felt so tired he wanted to die, but he had to stay awake to make sure Rude was okay. "You throw up on me and I'll kill you Rude."

Rude nearly choked as he laughed, "Reno I thought you wanted me to live?"

"Metaphorically kill you." Reno smiled and wiped his tearfully runny nose on his sleeve.

"So long as its only metaphorical." Rude grinned weakly and handed the nurse his empty cup, slumping back on his bed with a pained groan.

"How do you feel?" The nurse asked, her voice patronizingly patient.

"He just had a fucking rod stabbed through his leg how the hell do you think he feels?" Reno snapped, glaring at the nurse.

The nurse cleared her throat, "I was just-"

Reno cut her off, "Yeah yeah you were just trying to be nice or some shit, whatever. You can go now I'll jam the button when I need ya."

The nurse frowned and left the room, leaving Rude to stare at Reno in confusion. He had gone from somewhat okay to completely angry in only a few moments. He didn't dare ask if Reno was okay though, he knew the answer already.

* * *

Tseng walked in hours later to find Reno slumped on Rude's bed, fighting to keep his eyes open. He walked over to the dozing red-head, wondering just how futile any attempts to send him home for some rest would be. He got his answer when Reno shot upright and jabbed him in the stomach with a pen. Tseng jumped backwards and yanked the pen from Reno's hand, "What was that for?"

Reno slumped back down in his chair, "You shouldn't sneak up on me yo."

"I wasn't sneaking." Tseng frowned, trying to wipe the ink mark off his shirt. "May I ask why you decided to use a pen when there's so many hypodermic needles lying about?"

"No one ever expects you to attack them with a pen." Reno mumbled, rubbing his weary eyes.

"How long have you been here?" Tseng asked with a frown, speaking quietly so he wouldn't disturb Rude.

"Dunno, when'd we get here?" Reno yawned and leaned his head over the back of his chair.

"You haven't left?" Tseng raised an eyebrow. "It's been almost twelve hours Reno, have you even eaten?"

Reno's brow creased as he thought hard about Tseng's question, "I think a nurse tried to make me eat something awhile ago but I don't remember if I did or not."

"You should go get some rest Reno. I'll watch over him for awhile." Tseng offered, knowing before he finished speaking that Reno would refuse.

"Thanks but no thanks boss-man. I wanna stay here, make sure he's okay." Reno looked at Rude sleepily, his eyelids already drooping. "I wanna be here when he wakes up." Tseng knew Reno simply didn't want to face the reality of Gareth's death that an empty bed would surely bring.

Tseng shook his head, "You should at least eat something Reno."

"I'm not hungry." Reno snapped, sniffling slightly.

"Are you crying?" Tseng asked tentatively, watching Reno's shoulders shake gently.

Reno raised his shaking voice in anger and frustration. "Why the hell does everyone keep asking if I'm crying? Every nurse that walks in asks 'Hey are you crying?' Isn't it obvious that I'm crying? For that matter why am I the only one who's crying? Gareth and Brandon are dead! Nasira, Matt, Jareth, and Ellie are dead and even though they were gonna hafta die anyways shouldn't you be sad about it? You knew them longer than I did! Brandon was your best friend! You and Matt always sparred together! On those few Fridays where you'd go drinking with everyone you always danced when Ellie asked you to! Why aren't you sad!?"

Tseng sighed, "I am sad Reno."

"Then why don't you look sad? Why don't you sound sad? Why haven't you cried?" Reno sniffed and lowered his voice as Rude shifted in his sleep.

"Because I believe that hearts are too delicate to wear on sleeves." Tseng turned on his heel and made to leave the room.

Reno blinked hard, "What?"

Tseng sighed and turned to look Reno in the eye, "Hearts are fragile, fleeting things Reno. They're harmed very easily, a fact I'm sure you're now aware of. If you wear your heart on your sleeve then everyone will know exactly how to hurt you."

Reno sniffled, "So that's why you don't cry?"

Tseng smirked and turned to leave, "Maybe I'm just better at hiding my tears than you are."

Reno wiped his eyes and laid his head back down on the bed, watching Rude sleep through half lidded eyes, Tseng's words mixing with Gareth's parting farewell in his mind.

_I don't think it's gonna work that way red. _

_ Are you crying? _

_ A hospital isn't going to help me now. _

_ Hearts are fragile, fleeting things Reno. _

_ I took a bad hit red._

_ I am sad Reno._

_ Bullets hurt like hell._

_ Because I believe that hearts are too delicate to wear on sleeves._

_ You'll be okay, I promise._

_ How long have you been here?_

_ I love you Reno._

Reno choked on tears as he remembered the very last moments he would ever share with Gareth, the taste of that last kiss still fresh on his tongue even though it had been hours since Gareth had passed into the Lifestream.

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**Author's Note: More sad angstyness! It's gonna be sad for awhile.......R&R! **

**Also, we just passed the 60,000 word mark! :D**


	29. Chapter 29

When Rude woke up Reno was still splayed across the foot of his bed, his fingers curling in the scratchy hospital sheets as he slept. Rude studied his face, trying to discern just what Reno was dreaming about, but Reno's face was as blank as a sheet of unlined paper. Rude sat up gingerly, the pain in his leg a dull ache that sent his stomach spinning. He reached over and shook Reno's shoulder gently, trying to wake him as thin fingers clenched white sheets so hard knuckles could be seen, but Reno simply gave a tired grunt. Rude frowned and tried again, shaking Reno with a little more force. Reno grabbed his wrist and pushed him off his shoulder, holding his arm to the bed. Rude grinned and gave a small chuckle at Reno's sleeping antics, "Reno, wake up."

"G'way." Reno mumbled, still clenching Rude's wrist almost painfully tight as he tried to pull away.

Rude gave an amused sigh and ran his free hand through Reno's hair, "When did you fall asleep?"

"Msleepin?" Reno mumbled and nuzzled his head into the hospital bed, his sleeping face showing traces of confusion.

"Yes Reno, you're sleeping." Rude grinned and pushed Reno's hair out of his face, "Do you want to wake up?"

"No, havin' a dream." Reno whined and pulled Rude's hand under his head, nuzzling into the back of it as he used it for a pillow.

"That's my hand Reno." Rude chuckled, still petting red-hair.

"It's warm." Reno yawned, "You got a fever or sumthin' Rude?"

"No." Rude shook his head, twining red-hair in his fingers.

"Yer gon put ma back ta sleep pettin ma head like dat." Reno mumbled, a tired smile lifting the corners of his lips.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Rude asked, ceasing his petting.

Reno nodded, "Don't stop pettin', feels good."

Rude chuckled and resumed running his hand through Reno's hair,

"Alright."

Reno smiled and released Rude's hand, settling his head on his arm instead. "You need ta sleep too."

"Sure thing Reno." Rude remained where he was, watching Reno as he fell asleep, fingers tangled in red locks.

* * *

Tseng walked in a while later, eyebrow raised at the scene. "What the-?"

Rude brought a finger to his lips, shushing Tseng impatiently, "He's sleeping."

"Why are you......petting him?" Tseng asked, bewildered.

"It keeps him asleep." Rude shrugged, still scratching his way through red hair as Reno slept peacefully. "He needs it."

"I'll agree with that." Tseng whispered, looking at Reno with a grin, "He almost looks innocent in his sleep."

Rude chuckled quietly, "Always has. You'd never guess that he'd wake up ready to traumatize the world."

"How are you?" Tseng asked, looking Rude over critically.

"Fine. The pain is dull and the materia fixed the leg most of the way. When should I be able to go home?" Rude asked, tearing his eyes away from Reno's happily sleeping face to look at Tseng.

"In a few days. Take some time to recover, with all this mess in sector seven we won't have any actual work for awhile." Tseng sighed mournfully.

"Veld give you hell?" Rude asked, eyeing Tseng quizzically as he further tangled his fingers in Reno's hair as the red-head mumbled incoherently in his sleep.

"Yes. We've never lost so many people in one fell swoop before." Tseng gave another sad sigh, "Shinra is considering pulling the plug on our funding and flooding the money into soldier."

"But they need us." Rude scowled, "Soldiers aren't bodyguards or assassins, they're not as specially trained as we are."

"We can do things that Soldiers can't it's true," Tseng admitted proudly, "And they don't have to waste the mako on us, but Heidegger and Hojo are trying to convince Shinra that we aren't any good anymore."

"None of this would have happened if Hojo had kept his hands off of Matt." Rude frowned, his hand stilling in Reno's hair.

"I know that." Tseng nodded in agreement, "Veld and I have to convince Shinra that we're worth the funding. It happens to every department at some point."

"What are you going to do?" Rude asked calmly, his face impassive.

Tseng shrugged, "We've got a good track record before this that we can flaunt to our advantage. Heidegger and Hojo don't have as clean a slate as we do."

"And if they end up shutting down the Turks anyways?" Rude raised an eyebrow as Reno shifted under his hand.

"They'll either throw us into the Soldier program, give us desk jobs, or kill us." Tseng shrugged nonchalantly.

"None of that sounds pleasant." Rude frowned, resuming his petting as Reno whimpered in his sleep.

"Why does that keep him asleep?" Tseng asked, watching Reno quiet down almost instantly under Rude's hand.

Rude shrugged, "It just does. He gets nightmares sometimes and this seems to make them go away."

"Weird." Tseng gave a puzzled snort and left the room.

"I know." Rude smiled, watching Reno's face relax. He ran his fingers over one of Reno's tattoo's tenderly, jerking his hand back when Reno shifted.

Reno grabbed Rude's hand sleepily and set it back on his head, "Di'n't say stop."

Rude chuckled and resumed his petting, "You heard what Tseng said?"

"Nope." Reno mumbled, shifting his head on his arm, "Msleepin'."

"Sure you are." Rude chuckled, "How are you talking to me then?"

"Magic." Reno yawned, arching his neck into Rude's scratching fingers.

Rude laughed, "You act like a cat."

"Whoever heard o' a red cat?" Reno grumbled, smiling in his sleep, his eyes still shut tight.

"_Why_ do you enjoy this?" Rude asked, stilling his hand.

Reno whimpered, "Don't stop Ru. 'S like a massage fer ma head."

Rude smirked, "Remember the night after our first day of training?"

Reno sniggered, eyes still closed, "Course, I 'member the massage fun. Gareth got me an I got you. I always get you."

"That's probably more true than you know." Rude smiled, digging his fingers into Reno's scalp in a gentle massaging circle.

"Huh?" Reno cracked a bleary eye open and turned it towards Rude. "Wha's tha' s'posed ta mean?"

"Nothing Reno, go back to sleep." Rude smiled, sliding a thumb over Reno's eye, shutting it once more.

"Wha'ever." Reno yawned, nuzzling into the crook of his arm.

Rude grinned at his sleeping friend, hoping he wouldn't remember his little slip of the tongue, almost an admittance of his increased affection. He was sure Reno didn't know how he actually felt, and he planned to keep it that way for as long as he could manage. Reno didn't need another relationship after what transpired between Gareth and himself, especially considering the fact that either of them could die at any time. He just hoped Reno had really been asleep.

Of course, Reno had been able to hold conversations in his sleep since Rude had met him, he never remembered them though. At least he claimed he didn't remember them. Rude laid back on the bed, his hand still running through Reno's hair as his own eyelids started to droop closed. He smiled as he listened to Reno's deep even breathing echo around the room, the air rattling slightly with every inhale the red-head took. He closed his eyes with a sleepy murmur, "Night Reno."

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**Author's Note: I'm so bad letting a chapter this short pass for an update! **_***beats self in head with rusty spoon* **_** The next one will be longer, okay? **

**Let me know if you see any mistakes okay? I'll fix them ASAP!!!! I've been missing typos and things lately, been a little too tired for my own good.  
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**Click this button!**


	30. Chapter 30

_ Reno was walking along the roof of the Shinra building, a cigarette held loosely between his lips. Gareth was sitting in the helicopter Reno had always used during his lessons, spectral feet swinging idly as he waited for Reno to reach him. _

_ When Reno finally reached the ghostly form of his ex-lover he paused, confused, "You're dead, am I dreaming?"_

_ "I'm dead as a doornail." Gareth grinned, passing a intangible arm through Reno's cigarette, "You will be too if you keep smoking those."_

_ Reno laughed and flicked the cigarette away, "You know I'm not worried about that yo."_

_ Gareth stood up, his see through feet not touching the ground, "Listen red, this might be a dream for you, but I've got something to talk to you about and I don't exactly have a ton of time to do it."_

_ "Why not?" Reno frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets moodily._

_ "'Cause I'm dead genius, I can only appear in your dreams and Rude's got plans to wake you up with a pillow to the face." Gareth laughed and put his hands on deceivingly solid looking hips._

_ "How do you know that?" Reno raised an eyebrow, head cocked to one side._

_ "Because I'm dead, I know these things." Gareth rolled his eyes, "Shut up and listen for a bit red. This is important!"_

_ Reno sighed and sat cross-legged on the ground, "Fine, tell me whatcha gotta tell me."_

_ "Okay, I wanna talk to you about us." Gareth sat down across from Reno, his form not touching the ground, "We had a fun run Reno, and I love you, but we weren't made for each other."_

_ Reno scowled, "Thanks that makes me feel so much better about this ya asshole." _

_ "I'm not finished so zip it!" Gareth growled with a smile, "Listen, you remember thad story I told you about my friend? The one who died?"_

_ "Yeah." Reno remembered the incident clearly, the pain he had felt while he lay on the floor after over-exerting himself making the memory razor-sharp. _

_ "Well we were made for each other." Gareth smiled, "We're soulmates. He was more than just my friend, even if we never did anything while we were alive. We're coming to realize that we've always loved each other now that we're together in the Lifestream, and I regret not figuring all this out sooner."_

_ "Not to be rude but why is that important?" Reno pulled out another cigarette, growling as his dream lighter decided to run out of fluid._

_ "Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Gareth gave Reno a good-natured smile as he reached out a spectral hand and flicked his thumb and forefinger like a lighter, a small ghost flame shooting up from the end. He lit Reno's cigarette with a smile before shaking his hand, putting out the fire._

_ Reno gaped in awe, "You have got to teach me how to do that!"_

_ "You better not die so that you can come learn." Gareth warned, shaking his previously lit finger in Reno's direction._

_ "Wouldn't dream of it." Reno sniggered at his own joke, "I have a question before you keep talking."_

_ "What's that?" Gareth raised an eyebrow, eager to continue his story as he sensed Rude picking the lock of Reno's room._

_ "Do you want me to avenge your death or anything? That's usually what ghosts ask for." Reno cleared his throat nervously as Gareth frowned at him._

_ "If it makes you feel better." Gareth shrugged, "Can I finish telling you what I came here to tell you now? Rude's picking your lock as we speak." _

_ "Go ahead, he has to get through my deadbolt before he can reach me." Reno laughed, straining his ears to hear the tell-tale sounds of lock-picking._

_ Gareth smiled, "What I wanted to tell you was that you and Rude are soulmates."_

_ "What?" Reno raised an eyebrow, confusion evident on his face, "But he's my best friend."_

_ "Yeah, but you love him don't you?" Gareth gave a smug smile, "Don't be afraid to tell me. I'm dead it's not like I can go blabbing your secret."_

_ "How do I know you're not popping up in his dreams too?" Reno frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Besides, I can't love him, he's my best friend."_

_ "So how do you feel about him then?" Gareth smiled his smug smile as he surveyed the pouty and confused and very tangible red-head in front of him, a tangibility he was somewhat jealous of. Gareth wasn't too envious of Reno's life though, being dead certainly had its benefits. Reno chewed his lower lip, thinking hard. Gareth waited a few minutes, letting Reno get his thoughts together, before rushing him, "Haven't got all night Reno, Rude's going to get in here any minute."_

_ Reno scowled at Gareth, "I don't know all right? I can't tell you how I feel about him! I don't have the words!"_

_ Gareth grinned, spectral teeth pearly and see-through, "That's how love feels."_

_ "How would you know ghost boy?" Reno growled, tossing his cigarette through Gareth's insubstantial torso, "You're probably just a figment of my imagination."_

_ Gareth laughed, "Believe what you want, but think about what I said alright? Even figments know what's what." Gareth stood, hearing Rude finally start to click through the tumblers of the second lock on Reno's door. He reached into a ghostly pocket and began to fumble around, "Here's a little something to let you know this wasn't all a dream." He tossed a lump of metal into Reno's lap._

_ "What's this?" Reno raised an eyebrow at the black distorted lump of metal in his lap._

_ "My EMR, the one that should still be sitting at the bottom of that building burnt to a crisp like everything else. Believe me now?" Gareth sniggered and started to fade away._

_ Reno gaped, "So you're really Gareth?"_

_ Gareth grinned as his already insubstantial body lost more substance, "And this is really a dream and you really need to think about what I said."_

_ Reno got to his feet, a hand outstretched as he tried to make Gareth wait so he could ask him questions that were burning in his throat. Suddenly a white fluffy mass attacked his vision and roused him from his sleeping reverie. _

Reno bolted upright with a loud cry. "Dammit Rude what the hell was that for!?"

Rude jumped backwards, the movement causing his injured leg to crumble out from beneath him. He fell to the floor, his laughter intermittently turning into pained gasps. He clutched his leg and managed to choke out, "Thought it would be funny."

Reno frowned and set his hands in his lap, "You alright?" Rude nodded, his face a mixture of pain and laughter. Reno shook his head, "Since when did you do silly stuff like this?"

"You're rubbing off on me." Rude grinned happily from the floor before pain marred his happy features, "You haven't done anything stupid or fun in a while and it's starting to freak me out, so I took matters into my own hands. I see why you do it now, it's hilarious."

Reno chuckled, "Don't go thinking you can take me job yo, I'm the prankster and that's all there is too it."

Rude pulled himself to his feet, "What were you dreaming about?"

Reno raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

Rude shrugged, "You were saying my name."

"Must've known you were coming I guess." Reno shrugged back, the movement shifting a small weight on his blankets. Reno frowned and hid the object in his hands like it was evidence of a crime.

Rude didn't notice and shook his head with a smile, "I'm going back to bed now."

Reno nodded, hands still resting on the lump on his blankets. He waited for Rude to leave the room before uncovering it, eyes widening with shock and confusion. A few tears fell from his eyes as he looked at the lump of metal laying on top of his blankets, proof that his dream had been more real than he wanted to know. He looked at the ceiling and leaned back against his blankets, the disfigured weapon clutched tightly between his hands as he blinked away the tears, turning his thoughts down the alley Gareth had directed him towards.

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Author's Note: Gareth has made another appearance! He's still dead, but he was in it! R&R.**


	31. Chapter 31

Rude limped up the several flights of stairs leading to the roof, panting and grimacing as he went. The materia treatments had fixed his leg, but they hadn't taken away the pain yet, pain that Rude felt all too clearly now. Once he reached the roof he doubled over, clutching his leg in one hand as he tried to calm his ragged breathing. He momentarily wondered if what he was doing was even worth the effort, but slapped the thought from his mind quickly. He had looked everywhere else for Reno and this was his last possible hiding place. Rude straightened, leaning on the wall behind him for support as the throbbing in his leg began to dull. He was starting to get worried, finding Reno was usually something he didn't need to do. The red-head hadn't been more than ten feet from him since he had been let out of the hospital, after Tseng's talk of possible assassination attempts on the Turks for their failure Rude had made sure that Reno was almost constantly within arms reach. He could only think of a few reasons why Reno would hide from him. He was either doing something stupid, or doing something reckless. The two options were similar, yet so very different when Reno was factored in.

Rude pushed open the heavy door separating him from the roof and limped across the hard cement surface, his leg twitching with pain he disguised. He quickly scanned the area, his eyes not resting on any one area for more than a few seconds and he almost cried with relief when he spotted a shock of red sitting inside the cockpit of a helicopter, the door opened wide and smoke curling from the entrance. Rude limped to the helicopter as fast as his crippled leg would take him, hoping that Reno hadn't done something stupid. The fact the Reno was smoking forced the idea that he had done something reckless from Rude's mind, smoking was one of the tell-tale signs that the red-head was alright.

Reno looked up as he heard Rude's uneven gait, his healed but tormented leg slowing him as it dragged a little on the pavement. He sighed, smoke curling fro his mouth in languid spirals, "You should be resting."

Rude leaned against the helicopter, bending down to rub his leg while he surveyed the cigarette littered ground, "Why are you up here?"

Reno shrugged, "Just thinking."

"About what?" Rude asked, looking at Reno, the worry in his eyes evident behind dark glasses. Reno had been thinking a lot lately, thoughts that Rude knew usually involved Gareth.

"Nothing." Reno smiled, taking another drag on his cigarette with closed eyes. He didn't mean to worry Rude, he felt his bald friend had been through enough but he had simply needed some fresh air that he could pollute without any interruptions. He had hoped the large set of stairs would deter Rude from following him to the roof, but he hadn't factored in Rude's determination to find him.

Rude raised an eyebrow and stretched his throbbing leg, "Nothing?"

"I honestly don't know what I'm thinking about. I don't know if I'm thinking at all." Reno shrugged, giving Rude what he hoped was a reassuring smile, a smile he knew looked pained as the torment and confusion in his head threatened to spill into his face.

Rude frowned, obviously confused and doubtful, "So you're up here thinking about not thinking?"

"Yup." Reno watched the smoke curl away from his mouth with a smile, "It makes me happy in a depressed way."

"So you're happy, but you're depressed?" Rude scratched his head, trying to think of any hidden implications in that sentence. He could tell Reno wanted to be left alone, but he didn't think he could brave all those stairs so soon after his first attempt.

"Doesn't make sense to me either." Reno shrugged, tossing his cigarette to the ground as the fire at it's end died.

"So you've been up here for three hours thinking about not thinking and feeling happily depressed?" Rude frowned, unable to grasp the concept.

Reno sighed with a smile, "It's okay if you don't get it Rude."

Rude winced as his leg gave another pained throb, "I want to understand what's going on with you Reno."

"Did Tseng fill you in?" Reno asked, changing conversation to a topic that wasn't as personal.

"Fill me in on what?" Rude raised an eyebrow as Reno lit another cigarette.

"Why the building exploded." Reno inhaled the deadly smoke, a blissful look on his face hiding the inner turmoil in his mind.

"No." Rude frowned, he had hoped for a less depressing topic of conversation.

"Those Avalanche fuckers thought it would be a good idea to rig an explosive to the gas tank in the building. Once it looked like they were gonna completely loose the fight they blew it up. Apparently Brandon and Ellie were right next to it when it exploded." Reno leaned his head against the chopper, mental images of the scene rushing behind his eyes.

"How does Tseng know all that?" Rude asked, leaning on the helicopter and straining to stretch out the pained invisible kink left in his leg after his last materia treatment.

Reno had gone to ask their overworking superior just what had been found at the fire that morning after Rude had gone back to sleep. The blackened remains of the EMR worried him and he had wanted to know everything that had happened or could've happened in the building before it went up in flames. He had needed some way to explain why he had the EMR without making anyone think he was crazy, "Went back to the scene after the fire died. Found the swords and guns next to the base of the tank and deduced what he could from there." Reno sighed and pulled a blackened and deformed piece of metal out of his pocket, "He found Gareth's EMR too."

Rude gaped at the thing in Reno's hand, "That's all that's left?"

Reno ran his fingers along the surface of the charred metal, his face somber and broadcasting clearly the confusion and hurt the object in his hands brought him. "There wasn't much left of anything. This doesn't even look like an EMR anymore." Reno frowned with disgust, suddenly throwing the blackened mass away from him with a yell, "It doesn't even look like an EMR anymore! So many people died for no good reason! Someday I'm going to blow up that whole damned sector! Avalanche is going to _pay_ for what they did to us!"

"And after?" Rude asked, almost dreading the answer, "What will you do once you've avenged them?"

Reno blinked up at Rude, "After?"

"After this nice vendetta of yours is completed, will you stay here or join them?" Rude frowned, his eyes on the black metal lump that had skipped across the roof.

"Join them?" Reno raised an eyebrow, realization dawning on him, "You think I'm gonna commit _suicide?_"

"I don't know what to expect from you anymore." Rude sighed, eyes still focused on the used-to-be-EMR on the other side of the roof. He expected an answer that would either confirm or deny his suspicions about Reno's intentions. What he didn't expect was Reno to start laughing like a madman.

Reno doubled over, the somber expression on Rude's face and the idea of him committing suicide too unrealistic for him to take seriously, "You honestly think I'd commit suicide Rude?"

Rude blinked, confused, "Yeah, you did just loose your soulmate. Most people think about suicide after that."

Reno frowned, his answer almost rehearsed, "Jareth wasn't my soulmate yo. I loved him, that's for sure, but he wasn't my soulmate. And really Rude, _suicide?_ Is that why you've been watching me like a hawk lately?" Rude crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at him. Reno doubled over laughing, "Holy hell yo! I can't commit suicide! I'm too much of a pussy to slash my wrists, too scared of needles to inject anything into me, too freaked by guns to shoot myself, poison tastes bad, and if I liked nooses I'd be wearing that damned tie."

Rude laughed in spite of himself, "So no suicide?"

"Of course not!" Reno was still laughing, "I don't see why you were so worried. I loved Gareth, but I don't think he'd appreciate it if I tried to off myself."

Rude raised an eyebrow, "So if you don't think he was your soulmate, who is?"

Reno grinned happily, the answer Gareth had helped him figure out rolling off his tongue without effort, "Don't wanna freak ya out yo, but I think it's you." Rude's face suddenly seemed to go blank and it was the only part of him registering any emotion, but for Reno this reaction told him precisely what he thought about his statement. Reno tried to explain his feelings, the worlds easier to find now that he had had hours to look for them, "You've always been there Rude, when the building blew up it was _you_ I tried to carry out of the fire. I looked around to see if Gareth was coming, but I didn't go running through the fire to try and find him. I know if it had been you that I couldn't find I would've been running around like a madman trying to find you. Don't you think that means something yo? You're my best friend, we've been best friends for years. If anything happened to you, then I'd off myself. You know how to fix everything! There's not a damn thing about me you don't know and I barely even tell you anything. I think I love ya Rude."

Rude dropped his arms to his side and tried to understand what Reno was saying to him. He frowned, but only for a moment. Then his arms launched forward and he grabbed Reno forcefully, pulling him into a tight hug. Reno stiffened for a moment and then threw his arms around Rude, resting his head against a broad shoulder with a smug smile as Rude smiled into his hair, "Love you too Reno."

"I know buddy." Reno smiled, "Wanna go bother Tseng with me?"

"Sure." Rude let Reno go, ruffling red hair with a smile that creased the corners of his eyes, "How do you plan on doing that?"

Reno smiled rattling his plan off to Rude as they walked off the roof, glad that his best friend reciprocated at least some version of his feelings. He didn't know just how far Rude's affection for him went, but if the conversation they had had while Rude thought he was asleep was any indication, there was at least a small chance of Rude loving him back just as much. He wasn't sure how ready to move on from Gareth he was, but the dream he had had the night before made him feel better.

As they passed the charred lump of metal Reno stopped and picked it up, hefting it in his hand. Rude raised an eyebrow as Reno shot him a saucy wink and pocketed it, "I think I'll melt this down further to make the big ol' bomb I'm gonna need to blow up an entire sector. You wanna help when the day comes?"

"Don't I always help?" Rude grinned and used Reno's shoulder for support as his leg tried to buckle under him again.

Reno frowned at him, "You need to go back to the doctor, you can't help me blow shit up if your legs won't work."

Rude snorted, "Lead the way partner."

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**Author's Note: Yep that's it, the end. No more! Story is DONE!!!! Officially the longest story I've ever written....so far. If you're disappointed with the ending because you thought a Reno/Rude entailed much more than me pointing them in the direction of a healthy happy relationship, sorry but if I make this story any longer I'm afraid it will suck because I'm out of plot ideas that aren't cheesy or stupid. Hopefully you all aren't too angry about this being the end.**

** I'd like to thank everyone who read and reviewed this story during the three long months it took to write it, and to those who read but never reviewed, I thank you for reading even though I have no idea what you think about it. **


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